President Donald Trump was on hand to see his New York Knicks play their first NBA Finals home game since 1999 on Monday, June 8, watching Game 3 live from Madison Square Garden.
Per a report from the Associated Press, Trump, 79, flew from his home in New Jersey to somewhere near Wall Street in his Marine One helicopter before he and his motorcade drove through Manhattan. Trump, who was accompanied by his granddaughter Kai Trump among others, arrived shortly before tipoff, and the president could be seen from his suite cheering for the Knicks as they geared up to face off against the San Antonio Spurs.
This marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has attended an NBA finals game. His attendance for the evening was met with mixed reactions: boos could be heard coming from the stands when the broadcast cut to Trump’s suite during the National Anthem, which was sung by Avery Wilson.
As the Knicks have made their way through the NBA Playoffs, they have made headlines off the court for their raucous watch parties outside of MSG and the sky-high ticket prices for those lucky enough to get inside.
With the increased security around Trump’s attendance for Game 3, the outdoor watch party was cancelled amid plenty of public outcry. New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani later announced that Bryant Park would instead host up to 5,000 New Yorkers to watch the game.
With controversy swirling around Trump’s arrival, conservative activist Ann Coulter laid into him via X, calling the decision “selfish” and “narcissistic.”
“20,000 attendees will be MASSIVELY inconvenienced for all the extra security, the Knicks Watch Party at Garden is canceled, thousands of extra law enforcement officers will be required (paid for by taxpayers), traffic will be a disaster — all so he can sit in the Garden rather than watch the game on TV,” Coulter, 64, wrote on Sunday, June 7.
She added, “Presidents ought to be willing to sacrifice once in a while.”
Ironically, while Trump faced criticism from his side of the aisle, longtime Trump detractor Whoopi Goldberg defended him on Monday’s episode of The View.
“I think anybody who’s a Knicks fan should be there,” she said. “You earned the right as a Knicks fan. I don’t have to like you.”
Goldberg, 70, said the same goes for Mamdani, 34, who bought a standing-room ticket to the game.
“I’m sorry. Trump and Mayor Mamdani are Knicks fans and have been, they’re New Yorkers,” she said. “And … there’s nothing either one of them can do to change what’s happening in this city for this team.”
Trump, for his part, has offered no apologies for his attending the game or for the fans being priced out of tickets. After being told last week that the get-in price for Game 3 was more than $8,000, he told reporters, “You can watch it on television.”
“It’s sort of semi-free to watch it on television,” Trump said. “That’s the way life goes… If the team wasn’t a big success, tickets would go very easily… but that’s the way life is.”
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