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In a bizarre response to being asked to weigh in on the basketball careers of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, Donald Trump said that James may be “a racist”.
In Friday’s White House press conference, the Fox News reporter Peter Doocy mentioned that James intends to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, then asked the president whether Jordan or James is the “best ever”.
Trump replied: “Michael Jordan is a guy that’s a friend of mine. I play golf with him. He’s a really good guy. I think LeBron is – maybe he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump. I don’t know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”
James has not responded to Trump’s comments.
James endorsed the three candidates that ran against Trump in the past three presidential elections: Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024. He also criticised Trump following the president’s withdrawal of the Warriors’ invitation to the White House in 2017, after the Golden State’s Stephen Curry stated that he would have declined the visit.
The 41-year-old has won four NBA titles during his career and is set to compete in his 24th campaign.
Trump also described the penalty Bryson DeChambeau received during this month’s Open as a “tough call”. DeChambeau was handed a two-shot penalty after officials reviewed footage, deciding that he had improved the area of his backswing by flattening down some long grass on the fifth hole. The two-time major winner was also accussed of wanting to involve Trump in the controversy while in discussions with officials.
The president intervened in another sporting matter when he asked Fifa to “review” the red card shown to the USA forward Folarin Balogun during the World Cup. Balogun was sent off during the last-32 game against Bosnia and Herzegovina but the one-match ban was suspended for a year, allowing the Monaco player to feature in the last-16 clash against Belgium which the US lost 4-1.
Trump was also asked at the news conference if there is a “precedent” for someone with his job becoming a “fixer” for athletes. “I thought the Bryson call was a tough call,” Trump said. “I saw him walking around, I see a lot of people, they’re walking around looking for their ball in weeds, but I’ve been watching that. I thought it was a tough call against him.
“I thought the red card was a very tough call and it worked out brilliantly. Look, supposing that they didn’t let him play and we lost, everyone would have been angry. The way it was that they lost with their best player, now everyone’s happy, including Belgium – but of course they lost their next game so they’re not that happy.
“It worked out great. Gianni [Infantino] did a good job in making that call. All I did, I asked for a review, I thought that call was not a good call.”
