President Trump arrived in New Orleans on Sunday, the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, with the wind in his sails.
He started the day on the course with the golf legend Tiger Woods (they’ve both been working on a merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit). He issued a proclamation making it “Gulf of America Day” while on Air Force One, ceremoniously cementing his executive order last month to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
Of greater significance, he announced that, starting Monday, he would impose a 25 percent tariff on all foreign steel and aluminum imports into the United States. He also said he still intended to move forward with taking over the Gaza Strip, which he described as a “big real estate site” that the United States was “going to own.”
And he defended his first three weeks in office, which have caused massive strife across the country and the globe.
That was all before the game started.
Mr. Trump was met with cheers and a mix of boos as he arrived at the Superdome for the game, between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Among his entourage were his son Eric Trump and Eric’s wife, Lara Trump; his daughter Ivanka Trump; and several Republican leaders.
Also at the game is the former first lady Jill Biden, an avid Eagles fan, and her grandson, Beau Biden’s son Hunter. Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose security clearance Mr. Trump revoked on Friday, was not in attendance.
Mr. Trump and his courtiers were escorted to a suite at the Superdome, where he was seen standing for the national anthem and saluting.
In excerpts from an interview that aired earlier Sunday, Mr. Trump told the Fox News anchor Bret Baier that he had chosen to attend the Super Bowl because he thought it would be a “good thing” for the spirit of the country, which he said has “taken on a whole new life.”
Asked who he thought would win the game, Mr. Trump praised the quarterbacks of both teams, but he ultimately said he’d go with Kansas City based on the record of its star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes — who, he added, had “a phenomenal wife” (Brittany Mahomes) who happened to be a “Trump fan.”
“It’s going to be just a great game,” Mr. Trump said.