![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AP26160708396794.jpg?w=2048\")
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You\u2019ll usually be in the money \u2014 at least if recent history holds.<\/p>\n
The New York Knicks, after two straight wins in the finals against the San Antonio Spurs,\u00a0lost at home\u00a0115-111 on Monday night with Trump, a longtime fan of the Big Apple\u2019s NBA team, in a luxury suite at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n
He similarly may have had a jinxing role for MLB\u2019s Washington Nationals during his first term,\u00a0when the home team lost Game 5 of the World Series\u00a0to the Houston Astros 7-1.<\/p>\n
In November, the president was on hand when the NFL\u2019s Washington Commanders hosted the Detroit Lions, and the visitors romped 44-22. And he was\u00a0front and center at Bethpage Black\u00a0when Europe topped the U.S. golf team in last fall\u2019s Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a glaring irony for a president fanatical about sports but also especially\u00a0obsessed with winning.<\/p>\n
Trump frequently mentions his own\u00a0election victories, even boasting of a\u00a02020 win over Joe Biden that never happened, and touts his record of\u00a0endorsing winning Republican primary candidates. His love of sports also sometimes leads him into hostile territory, including heavily Democratic Manhattan, where his\u00a0very presence led to sustained booing\u00a0before Game 3\u2019s tipoff.<\/p>\n
The White House called the suggestion that Trump\u2019s attendance might not bode well for home teams \u201cfoolish\u201d and called him \u201cthe people\u2019s president.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump is the greatest champion for sports of any president in American history, and he loves them,\u201d spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement.<\/p>\n
To be fair, Trump\u2019s attendance doesn\u2019t guarantee the home team will lose.<\/p>\n
Last September, the New York Yankees beat the visiting Detroit Tigers 9-3 as\u00a0the president\u00a0marked the 24th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks. Trump was also there when Navy beat Army 17-16 in Baltimore last fall, when the Midshipmen were technically the home team \u2014 though Navy wasn\u2019t playing in its home stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also been to plenty of sporting events where home field advantage isn\u2019t a factor.<\/p>\n
That was true for his\u00a0attending the U.S. Open\u00a0in September and the 2025\u00a0Super Bowl\u00a0in New Orleans, where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as that year\u2019s\u00a0Daytona 500. Ditto for 2025s\u00a0NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia\u00a0and the FIFA Club World Cup\u00a0final\u00a0in East Rutherford, New Jersey.<\/p>\n
It also won\u2019t be an issue Sunday, when the\u00a0White House\u2019s South Lawn\u00a0will host a\u00a0UFC show to mark Trump\u2019s 80th birthday.<\/p>\n
If the trend holds, however, it may not be great news for the U.S. national team in the\u00a0World Cup, which opens Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Americans have never made it past the semifinal stage in the tournament\u2019s modern history anyway \u2014 and they\u2019ll have to contend this time with Trump playing an\u00a0outsize role\u00a0in organizing the event. He has pledged to attend the final and award the trophy to the winning team.<\/p>\n
Some Knicks fans have faulted the president for the Game 3 defeat, even though their team still leads the series. Game 4 will also be played in New York on Wednesday, though this time Trump isn\u2019t expected to attend.<\/p>\n
California Gov.\u00a0Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate and frequent foil for the president, playfully picked up on the theme of Trump as a jinx, reposting a past White House post on X declaring \u201cCall it the Trump effect\u201d alongside discussion about the Knicks\u2019 loss.<\/p>\n
ESPN analyst\u00a0Stephen A. Smith\u00a0\u2014 himself mentioned as a possible future presidential hopeful \u2014 suggested before Game 3 that it\u2019d be Trump\u2019s fault if the Knicks didn\u2019t win. Afterward, he said, \u201cWhat I feared would happen ended up happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe president disrupted our mojo,\u201d said Smith, a longtime Knicks fan, before adding, \u201cThe man messed things up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked after the game about Smith potentially blaming him for a Knicks loss, Trump dismissed the commentator\u2019s political aspirations and questioned his intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s a nice guy. But you need a certain aptitude to run for president,\u201d Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One for his flight back to Washington early Tuesday<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need a high IQ. I\u2019m not sure that Stephen has that,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he does, actually.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before he was a politician, Trump, a native of the New York City borough of Queens,\u00a0frequently attended\u00a0Knicks games, sometimes sitting courtside. His return to the Garden nonetheless drew long and loud boos when his face was shown on the jumbotron during the national anthem.<\/p>\n
In fact, he\u2019s been roundly booed repeatedly, though it has more to do with his politics than any role he might have in jinxing the home team. Trump drew boos at the Nationals\u2019 World Series game and during the Commanders game and the U.S. Open. At some events he\u2019s cheered and the crowd reaction can also be mixed \u2014 though Trump just as likely to simply claim a more friendly reception than he actually gets.<\/p>\n
After the Knicks game, the president tried to suggest that the boos were \u201cI think, mostly cheers.\u201d The White House similarly attempted to spin the incident into a political show of strength, posting a photo of Trump at the game with the caption \u201cKing of New York.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offering a different assessment was New York\u2019s Daily News tabloid. It featured a cartoon of an exaggeratedly rotund Trump wearing a No. 38 Knicks jersey \u2014 with a bubble emerging from his mouth saying \u201capproval rating.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#curse #Trump #watching #sports #person #home #team #lose<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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