Donald Trump got roasted for sidelining executive duties to attend the College Football Playoff National Championship with several members of his family.
The 79-year-old found another reason to flee from Washington, D.C., to Florida after attending the showdown between No. 10 Miami and No. 1 Indiana, held in Miami on Jan. 19. However, Trump’s escape from the capitol’s cold temperatures was short-lived, as football fans unleashed an icy reaction to his presence.
The businessman was rooting for the Hurricanes, but his attendance was the opposite of luck. “They lost in front of him. The Trump curse!” wrote an IG Threads user. Miami was defeated 21-27 in the final game of the 2025-26 collegiate football season. A second user scoffed, “He only went hoping if Miami won they would give him the trophy.”
Trump and crew — which included Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, granddaughter Kai Trump and her mom Vanessa Trump, and several others — were seated in a suite at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Cameras flashed to the commander-in-chief during the pregame singing of the national anthem. His family stood with their hands over their hearts, while the senior citizen had his hands placed on the shoulders of two of his grandsons. At one point, Trump waved to the crowd during the national anthem.
🚨HOLY SHIT: At the second Trump was shown on screen at the College Championship game, the audience gave Trump thumbs down and middle fingers. This is humiliating. pic.twitter.com/gu2NOSUOPa
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) January 20, 2026
Thousands of attendees sprang into a roaring flood of disapproval as they glared at the U.S. leader being broadcast to the stadium. Some even gave him a thumbs down. As one IG Threads user put it, “Plenty of people booed him. ESPN tried to get him off screen as fast as they possibly could and they didn’t put him on the tron.”
One person remarked, “He made them attend so he might not get booed. But they got slammed anyway.” Trump briefly waved at the crowd as his screen time was abruptly ended. Still, viewers made note of a few odd observations.
For starters, at one point, several people took issue with Trump’s decision not honor the anthem by placing his right hand over his heart. Instead, he awkwardly held it up like he was “swearing in.”
President Trump attended Monday night's College Football Playoff National Championship in South Florida alongside family members including Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Kai Trump. https://t.co/VG6RkNyr9J pic.twitter.com/rWqQVU8exg
— ABC News (@ABC) January 20, 2026
A heckler wrote that “Everyone else is doing the ‘patriotic’ thing hand on heart… theres Trump waving like the dementia patient he is. Guess its hard to put your hand on your heart when you dont have one!”
Questions arose when the focus shifted to Ivanka. “I genuinely thought that was Melania,” an X user tweeted; however, first lady Melania Trump was nowhere to be found. Multiple photos from the game have surfaced online, none of which show the father and daughter interacting or even acknowledging each other. “She hates him. Obviously,” reads a tweet.
Others found it bizarre that the former presidential adviser hid her eyes behind oversized eyewear. “Why is she wearing sunglasses? It’s a night game,” a social media user wondered. Someone else asked, “Is Ivanka trying to be incognito wearing sunglasses??”
Melania has reportedly banned her rival Ivanka from the premiere of the MELANIA movie, one of the few remaining events at the desolate Kennedy Center. To which the world responds: HOW DID IVANKA GET SO LUCKY pic.twitter.com/zl8kLgVoAw
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) January 10, 2026
According to one observer, the sunglasses were used “to hide her shame and embarrassment.” The accessory also sparked a new wave of plastic surgery speculation. “Bet anything it’s recent plastic surgery on eyes. If she got the Cat Eye/Bleph like Mel I will laugh,” a critic suggested.
“Ivanka looks like Melania !!!! Hahaha!!! Same Doctors I Guess, Hahaha!!!!” wrote a humored Trump detractor. Longstanding rumors suggest that the ladies do not like each other; with recent reports claiming that Ivanka was completely cut out of the first lady’s upcoming film, “Melania.”
