President-elect Donald Trump will meet with allies and a famous Republican cause at Saturday’s Army-Navy football game, a chance to enjoy one of the most storied rivalries in college sports while highlighting the emerging headquarters national security team.
Trump is expected to join the vice president-elect JD Vancechosen the Pentagon Pete Hegsethpotential Florida government security defense option. Ron DeSantis and others for the 125th clash between service academies. Elon Musk is also scheduled to attend.
He also plans to attend Daniel Pennya military veteran who was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide this week in the death of an agitated subway driver in New York. Penny was invited by Vance, who accused prosecutors of trying to “ruin” Penny’s life by charging the Navy veteran in the death of Jordan Neely in 2023.
Trump, who attended Army and Navy games as president-elect in 2016 and during his first terms, has been making an increasing number of public appearances. before his inauguration on January 20, 2025. He was accompanied by his family and Vance on Thursday as he rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange after being recognized as Time Magazine Person of the Year.
Trump spent the weeks after the Nov. 5 election at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida assembling a team to help lead his next administration. He and his aides have become optimistic about Hegseth’s chances of winning Senate confirmation. The Army combat veteran and former Fox News host’s chances of becoming defense secretary had appeared in jeopardy amid allegations of excessive drinking, sexual assault and their views on women in combat.
Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty Images
DeSantis, a former Navy lawyer who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, is among potential replacement candidates Trump has considered if Hegseth’s bid fails.
Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller said in an interview with Newsmax on Friday that Hegseth has “passed the gauntlet.” Miller predicted Hegseth will be confirmed.
“This is someone who has literally been shot on the battlefield,” Miller added. “That’s the kind of person I want leading the (Defense Department) because as we make these decisions about whether or not to put American troops in harm’s way, I want someone who knows on a personal level what that’s like before they go and sends some young or young in battle.”
Speaker of the House Mike JohnsonR-La., is also expected to attend the party and bring with him a contingent of other Republican lawmakers who are jockeying for time with the incoming president weeks before Republicans take control of all three branches of the federal government.
Johnson said he intends to discuss with Trump plans for a legislative package that could pass Congress next year with a simple majority in the face of expected Democratic opposition.
Vance said Friday that Penny, a fellow Navy veteran, had accepted his invitation to be in Trump’s suite alongside the military. Penny was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death after a judge ruled dismissed a more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter last week because the jury deadlocked on that.
The case was a turning point in longstanding debates about racial justice and New York City’s failures to address homelessness and mental illness, which Neely had struggled with.
“Daniel’s a good guy, and the mob district attorney in New York tried to ruin his life because he had a backbone,” Vance. said in a post on X. “I am grateful that he has accepted my invitation and I hope he can have fun and appreciate how his fellow citizens admire his courage.”
Hegseth planned to be in a suite with some Medal of Honor recipients, according to a person familiar with Hegseth’s schedule.
Trump’s picks for Navy Secretary John Phelan, a businessman who never served in the military, and for Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran and former adviser Vance’s principal, will also attend, the person said, who was not. authorized to publicly discuss those details and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kickoff is after 3:00 PM EST at Northwest Stadium, home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, in Landover, Maryland.
Governor Wes Moore he proclaimed December 14, 2024, as Army-Navy Game Day in Maryland.
“Today is not just about one of the greatest rivalries in college sports, it’s about what unites us. I’m proud to be a part of the long tradition of service that defines our state and our country; one that transcends past , ideology, race, and family history,” Moore said.
Army (11-1) is ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press Top 25 after beating Tulane on Dec. 6 to win the American Athletic Conference, the first league title of any kind in the 134-year history of the team Navy (8-3) qualified earlier this season after starting with a six-game winning streak.
The Navy Midshipmen and Army Black Knights have squared off on the football field every year since 1930, even when the United States was fighting in World War II.
Winslow Townson / AP
The military will pay tribute to soldiers who fought in a pivotal battle 80 years ago that occurred as Adolf Hitler launched a last-ditch effort to push back American and allied forces in Europe. The Army’s 101st Airborne was among the units that fought Axis troops in freezing weather.
Now, the Army Black Knights hope to honor that dogged determination on the field today. Their uniforms in the field are inspired by the snow and trees that the soldiers were surrounded by, and reflect the tenacity of the soldiers, who refused to give up and were able to fight the enemy.