OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
4:12 PM – Friday, March 20, 2026
President Donald Trump honored the Navy football team at the White House on Friday, awarding them the 2025 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy following their sweep of the other major service academies.
The event also featured the signing of an executive order (EO) securing a permanent timeslot for the Army-Navy game. Though awarded in 2026, the trophy recognizes Navy’s dominance over Army and Air Force during the previous 2025 season, keeping with longstanding tradition.
“For the second year in a row, it’s my great honor to officially present the Commander in Chief’s Trophy to the one and only Navy Midshipmen football team with 11 wins and two losses, playing the best teams in football.” Trump said during the ceremony.
“These players achieved one of the most impressive seasons in Navy football history — in any football history, frankly,” he added.
After edging out Air Force 34-31 and narrowly defeating Army 17-16, Navy now commands a 64-55-7 lead in the historic all-time series.
President Trump launched the festivities in Baltimore, taking to the field for the ceremonial coin toss.
Surrounded by midshipmen, Trump then signed the “Preserving America’s Game” EO, quipping that he would abstain from using an autopen in favor of a personal signature that he rated a “10” — a self-assessment that drew cheers from the crowd.
The order serves to protect Military Service Academies from the expansion of College Football Playoffs (CFP) and other postseason college football games, which could “weaken the national focus on our Military Service Academies and detract from a morale-building event of vital interest to the Department of War.”
“For over a century, the Army-Navy Game, known as ‘America’s Game,’ has stood as a symbol of excellence and the American spirit,” the EO proclaimed.
It establishes a policy that no college football games should be broadcast if they directly conflict with the Army-Navy Game. The Secretary of Commerce and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are to coordinate with the CFP Committee, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and related organizations to establish an “exclusive window” for the Army-Navy Game.
The 2026 game is slated for December 12th at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It will be the 127th game.
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