President Donald Trump ventured to Madison Square Garden in his hometown of New York City on Monday night to watch Game 3 of the NBA Finals — where he was met with overwhelming boos from the crowd.
Trump’s face was shown on the Jumbotron in center court during the early part of the National Anthem. As he stood saluting from a private box, the camera turned its attention on him, prompting roaring boos from the crowd. Trump appeared to smirk slightly at the response.
Another angle of the incident demonstrated just how loudly the crowd was booing. Mere seconds after showing Trump’s face, the Jumbotron switched scenes, resulting in the crowd quieting.
Trump stayed for the entire game, which featured the San Antonio Spurs taking on the New York Knicks. At one point, he appeared to fall asleep in the middle of what was, by most accounts, a thrilling back-and-forth contest.
Beyond Trump’s deep unpopularity — and the fact that his far right politics clash with New York’s generally more progressive values — the booing may have been a response to the disruption caused by the president’s appearance at the venue. Heightened security for the president meant that fans had to arrive hours earlier than usual. Entire blocks in downtown Manhattan were closed off to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. And an area where Knicks fans have regularly congregated for watch parties during the NBA playoffs was also closed, with that evening’s event canceled entirely to address security concerns.
Anticipating the increases in security that could interfere with watching the game, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith panned Trump’s decision to watch the game in person.
“I have a problem with any politician — any politician — that shows up, causes delays and interferes with these watch parties buzzing all over NYC,” Smith said in a post on X. “It’s not political. It’s about the @nyknicks and the vibe this city has going. Anyone who messes with that needs to not show up.”
The boos for Trump continued outside of the arena. As his presidential motorcade departed, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of fans booed there, too.
Trump’s presence at the game exacerbated fans’ disappointment when the Knicks fell to the Spurs, breaking the Knicks’s 13-game winning streak. For sports fans who regularly observe “curses” that affect their favorite teams’ performances, Trump’s return to New York left somewondering whether he was to blame for the loss.
Despite the boos and anger from fans at the game and outside the arena, Trump claimed in remarks to press that he had support from people at the game.
“I thought it was amazing,” Trump said, adding that he believed he received “mostly cheers” from a “very enthusiastic” crowd.
Media observers noted otherwise.
“You want to see how much New Yorkers appreciated Donald Trump?” MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow said on her program that evening. “Making them all come to the game hours early, forcing everyone to go through tons of extra screening, forcing New York City to cancel the public-free viewing parties they had planned outside Madison Square Garden, just specifically so Trump could be there in person, even though he’s only ever talked trash about the NBA and doesn’t appear to have been an actual fan at all, at least for decades?”
After showing video of the fans booing, Maddow added: “When they’re waving at you with just one finger, it doesn’t mean the same as another kind of wave.”
Even a White House press pool report from The Washington Times, a publication that is typically friendly to Trump, noted that he “was thunderously booed when he was shown on the Jumbotron during the National anthem,” contradicting Trump’s rosy assessment of how he was received.
“It was loud and long, but quickly changed to cheers when the camera quickly panned to Jalen Brunson on the court,” The Times reported.
New Yorkers aren’t the only ones unhappy with Trump. An Economist/YouGov poll, published the morning after Game 3’s conclusion, shows that only 35 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency, while 60 percent disapprove.