President Donal Trump was once again booed by a crowd of sporting fans, this time at the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The American president being jeered at public events has become almost as ritualistic as fan chants and team celebrations and — and yet leagues continue to foist Trump upon our jumbotrons, even as he grows increasingly unpopular with the general public.
Sunday’s jeers were the latest in a long line of adversarial encounters between Trump and sporting fans. To refresh your memory, here are some of the most notable times Trump has been booed by audiences throughout the country:
At the 2026 World Cup Final
FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s bizarre relationship with President Donald Trump came to a head on Sunday during the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. Ahead of the match, Infantino had broadcast that he and Trump would jointly present the trophy to the victor — breaking standard protocol in which the FIFA president alone presents the gold prize to the winning team.
When he first was shown on the jumbotrons of the New York/New Jersey stadium on Sunday, fans loudly booed Trump. When he was first shown to the crowd during the opening ceremonies for the game, and again when he descended onto the pitch during the victory celebration for Spain to present the trophy.
As Spain tried to enjoy their victory, Trump tried to stick around on the stage the way he did for the Club World Cup in 2025. Spanish captain Rodrigo Hernández Cascante (a.k.a. Rodri) and Infantino attempted to gently usher him off the stage. He hung around, though, and FIFA wound up cropping him out of celebratory photos.
At the 2026 NBA Finals
In June, Trump became the first sitting American president to attend the NBA Finals. The native New Yorker was invited to Game 3 between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs by Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan.
The president created a security nightmare around MSG, shutting down a chunk of Midtown Manhattan and inconveniencing fans, staff, and the two teams alike. Maybe it was the general cloud of frustration with Trump, or maybe it was the acute sting of him crashing the best party New York had had in decades, but the Garden made their displeasure known. To add insult to injury, the Knicks were delivered their only L of their 4-1 series win.
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Trump, shown on camera during the national anthem, is booed loudly at MSG pic.twitter.com/NkWE4xsE2Z
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 9, 2026
At the 2025 Super Bowl
At the 2025 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump were jeered at by fans when they were shown on the screens of Arrowhead Stadium. Some fans were cheering, but not nearly enough to down out the cacophony of boos. The next year, Trump skipped the game, saying publicly the game was too far away in San Francisco but expressing private fears that he would be booed amid the controversies caused by his deadly immigration enforcement surge.
Before the incident at the Super Bowl, Trump made the pilgrimage to Maryland to perform a live enlistment ceremony during an NFL game between the Washington Commanders and the Detroit Lions during the 2025-2026 season. During his stilted reading of the Oath of Enlistment, Trump was nearly drowned out by the heckling and jeering of angry fans.
BREAKING: Trump just got loudly booed at the Commanders game.
pic.twitter.com/vLDiQOZH5X— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 9, 2025
At a Broadway performance
It’s well known that Trump loves showtunes. His obsession with the Phantom of the Opera and other Broadway classics is a matter of public record. So it was no surprise that when Les Misérables announced a run of shows in June of last year at the historic Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Trump decided to attend the opening night performance.
The president was booed as he and First Lady Melania Trump took their seats in the president’s box. Some of his supporters in the crowd attempted to gin up a “U.S.A.” chant in response, but calls of “Fuck Trump” could still be heard over the din.
At the 2015 U.S. Open
It seems like heckling the president is an impulse that transcends sports and fandoms. During his first campaign, Trump attended the quarter finals of the 2015 U.S. Open in New York, for a match between Serena and Venus Williams. Decorum and niceties abound in the typically buttoned-up world of professional tennis, but the crowd in the U.S. Open gave no such deference to the then-candidate who was already well on his way to becoming one of the most controversial figures in American political history.
At the 2019 World Series
Baseball fans chanted “lock him up” at the president during Game 5 of the 2019 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals. The incident took place just hours after Trump had ordered the assassination of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
His appearance at the game in Washington, D.C., was met with rejection by the crowd, who booed and chanted at the president as cameras caught a forced smile slowly slipping from his face.
Trump appeared to receive some applause, some boos when announced during Salute to Trips, then troops received applause followed by intense boos when they showed POTUS on screen. Some in the crowd chanted “lock him up” after https://t.co/3LouM61ld7 pic.twitter.com/h9X6mToPvu
— Noah Gray (@NoahGrayDC) October 28, 2019
At the 2025 U.S. Open
In 2025, Trump returned to the U.S. Open for the men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at Arthur Ashe Stadium, as a guest of the luxury watch brand Rolex. He was lustily booed by attendees not once, but twice. The first time when he briefly stepped out of his booth to wave at early arrivals to the match, and a second when he was shown on the stadium jumbotrons during the national anthem.
ESPN/ABC show President Donald Trump during the national anthem at the US Open. The crowd can be heard booing, and the President reacted with a sly grin. pic.twitter.com/3HWYZfhl0x
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 7, 2025
At the 2018 NCAA college football championship
At the 2018 NCAA college football championship game between the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia, Trump was received with a decided mix of boos and cheers by the crowd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
As is standard with Trump’s appearances to public events as president, his attendance upped security screenings, hardened perimeters, and left fans waiting extended amounts of time to get into the event. He was heckled as he entered the stadium, and then again during the national anthem.
A loud cry of “fuck Trump” was reportedly heard from within the player’s tunnel as Alabama ran onto the field.
At political events and rallies
Trump has also been booed at political events. Back during the 2015 campaign, he was booed lustily after calling Marco Rubio a “clown” at the conservative Values Voter Summit. The conservative movement has since totally capitulated, and it’s unfathomable that he would be booed like this for calling one of his rivals a “clown” in 2026.
But Trump’s own movement can still turn on him. At a 2021 rally in Alabama — maybe the last place one would expect attendees to direct any vocal displeasure toward Trump — the then-former-and-future president was booed for calling on attendees to get the Covid vaccine. “I believe totally in your freedoms. I do. You’ve got to do what you have to do,” Trump said. “But I recommend taking the vaccines. I did it. It’s good. Take the vaccines.”
He responded to the jeers by saying “that’s all right,” and has turned on vaccinations more broadly since retaking office.
From Rolling Stone US
