Trump announces plan to control college football schedule to protect Army-Navy game

President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order prohibiting college football games from airing in the same time slot as the annual Army-Navy game to help preserve what he called one of the “greatest American traditions.”

“Tradition is now at risk of being pushed aside by more College Playoff Games, and Big TV Money,” Trump wrote in a Saturday Truth Social post. “NOT ANYMORE!”

Going forward, Trump said, television networks, stations and outlets must reserve the second Saturday in December for a four-hour-long broadcast of the Army-Navy football game. The decision will benefit CBS, which has held the rights to the Army-Navy game since 1996 and will continue to do so through 2038.

The well-known rivalry game played between the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis has been going on for more than a century. But recent discussions to expand the College Football Playoffs risk moving the Army-Navy game to a different day or time slot.

Trump’s latest executive order aims to protect the game, which he characterized as an act to preserve patriotism, but it also marks an unprecedented overreach of executive authority to influence broadcast college football games.

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“On the field, they are rivals, but on the battlefield they are America’s unstoppable Patriots, defending our Country with tremendous Strength and Heart. We must protect the Tradition, and the Players, who protect us. Please let this serve as Notice to ALL Television Networks, Stations, and Outlets,” Trump wrote.

It is unclear whether the president’s executive order could be enforceable. The Federal Communications Commission regulates broadcast television, not cable or streaming companies.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr did not provide an additional statement beyond reposting Trump’s message.

Media law experts have suggested that the executive order was likely illegal, however, citing the First Amendment among other factors, according to The Washington Post

Some lawmakers have urged the College Football Playoff heads to preserve a day for the Army-Navy game, claiming it promotes the military schools and serves as a day to honor those who protect the country.

The next Army-Navy game is set to take place on December 12 at the MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford.

But also, since returning to the White House, the Trump administration has exerted influence over CBS News.

Last year, the administration approved the merger of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, and Skydance, owned by Trump ally David Ellison. Since then, Ellison has installed Free Press founder Bari Weiss as the editor-in-chief of CBS News. Many have accused Weiss, a conservative commentator, of capitulating to the Trump administration.