On July 31, 2025, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will expand the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition and reinstate the Presidential Fitness Test in public schools.
On hand were members of his administration—Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Vice President JD Vance.
Also on hand were athletes Trump picked to be part of his President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, & Nutrition to oversee the youth program—golfer Bryson DeChambeau, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque, football player Harrison Butker, golfer Annika Sörenstam, former college athlete Cody Campbell, and retired football player Lawrence Taylor.
Trump said:
“I’m pleased to announce that we’re officially restoring the Presidential Fitness Test and the Presidential Fitness Award.”
“And it’s going to be a very big thing.”
“From the late 1950s until 2013, graduate scholars all across our country competed against each other in the Presidential Fitness Test, and it was a big deal. This was a wonderful tradition, and we’re bringing it back.”
After remarks from members of his administration, Trump asked the athletes in attendance to each say a few words.
The inclusion of Linda McMahon’s son-in-law, professional wrestler and WWE executive Triple H, and LIV Golf member Bryson DeChambeau are unsurprising. Trump has close business ties to the Saudi-owned LIV Golf.
Controversial MAGA conservative Butker, a kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, is also no shock.
Butker became a MAGA darling, like Riley Gaines who was surprisingly not included, after a commencement speech where he told female graduates they’d been scammed into being educated because their only fulfillment in life would come as a wife and mother.
Everyone selected had some ties to Trump, including Lawrence Taylor who spoke at several MAGA rallies. Trump drew backlash for his appearances, which make Taylor’s inclusion on the council the day’s only surprise.
Taylor is a registered sex offender in Florida due to a 2011 conviction.
Taylor pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute after paying for sex with a trafficked 16-year-old girl.
People were appalled that Trump still continues to buddy up to men, like Matt Gaetz, who publicly admit to preying on underage girls.
Taylor’s Florida plea deal reminded many of the one that made longtime Trump BFF Jeffrey Epstein a registered sex offender in the state, while keeping both men out of prison.
@phillytradesman/Bluesky
The Presidential Fitness Test began under former Republican President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. The fitness test drew widespread criticism before it was suspended.
It was replaced in 2012, by former Democratic President Barack Obama, with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
Rather than a one day battery of tests—including running a mile, jumping jacks, pull-ups, and push-ups—Obama’s alternative offered a comprehensive school-based program that promoted living an active and healthy lifestyle every day.
The test’s revival is drawing the same concerns from experts in health, fitness, and education.
The test will be administered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s department.
