Trump plans to attend Knicks NBA Finals game

President Trump plans to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday, bringing a sitting president to a championship matchup between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs and adding major security preparations to one of New York’s busiest transit hubs.

The White House confirmed the trip in an official schedule released Thursday, CBS News reported, after sources familiar with the plans had said Trump would attend the game. Trump, a native New Yorker and longtime Knicks fan, said he was invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, who has donated to his political campaigns.

“The answer is yes — he’s invited me, I’m going,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to The Guardian. Trump said he was eyeing Game 3 on Monday but did not rule out Game 4 on Wednesday. “Maybe I’ll do both.”

The Knicks beat the Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 on Wednesday night in San Antonio, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Trump said he watched part of the game while handling other matters.

“I missed the middle because I talk to generals all night long now, but I watched that end of the game and they were dominant,” Trump said, according to The Guardian. “Really amazing.” He also praised the Knicks for their defense against Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. “I say, how do you guard this guy? He’s 7ft 5in and he’s got a great shot, right? But they find a way to do it. They’re really great.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league believes Trump would be the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game. CBS News reported that former President Barack Obama was the last sitting president to attend an NBA game, when he saw the Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015.

Silver said Thursday that he remembered Trump as a regular presence at Knicks games before his political career. “Donald Trump, before he ever ran for office, he was a big Knicks fan,” Silver said, according to The Guardian. “I was there at many Knicks games with him in the old days. He attended many of our drafts when they used to take place at Madison Square Garden.”

The commissioner also said Trump’s presence will require extra security in and around the arena. A law enforcement source told CBS News that law enforcement officials have been meeting and working on heightened security for the event. Madison Square Garden sits in Midtown Manhattan above Penn Station, a major transit hub.

“I think the fans are very understanding of that,” Silver said of possible delays and logistical issues. “I think they recognize that it adds to the bigness of the event.”

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also plans to attend Game 3, according to the New York Post and The Guardian, but said he will not be sitting with Trump.

“I can tell you that I’m planning to go to a Knicks game,” Mamdani said Thursday at an event about transit during the World Cup. “I will be at Game 3. I will be in a very different section of the stadium, and we look forward to welcoming any New Yorker who is excited for the Knicks to win that championship.” The Guardian reported that the mayor’s office said Mamdani would pay his own way for a ticket, with secondary-market prices above $8,000 as of Thursday afternoon. Trump said he would attend as Dolan’s guest.

Trump has attended several major sporting events during his second term, including the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans and this year’s College Football Playoff National Championship game in Miami. His planned NBA appearance follows years of public clashes with parts of the league during his first term, when he criticized players who kneeled during the national anthem, feuded with LeBron James and criticized coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich over their comments about China.

Trump’s connection to the Knicks stretches back decades. He sat courtside at Madison Square Garden for playoff games, attended Game 3 of the 1994 NBA Finals and took part in a 2010 campaign organized by Dolan to recruit James to New York. “The real winners of the world want to be here,” Trump said in that video. “They come here, they want to come to New York.”