Trump Signs Order to Preserve 2nd Saturday in December for Army-Navy Football

The president signed the executive order during a ceremony presenting Navy with the Commander in Chief’s Trophy for the second year in a row.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order declaring an exclusive television broadcast window for the annual Army-Navy football game during a ceremony to present the Commander in Chief's Trophy to the Navy Midshipmen football team of the United States Naval Academy in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 20, 2026. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 20 blocking college football playoff organizers from scheduling games during the four hours allotted for the Army–Navy game played on the second Saturday in December.

The order cites the expansion of college football playoffs as the cause for the regulation because the schedule “threatens to encroach upon ... a date traditionally reserved exclusively for ‘America’s Game.’”