âMaybe heâs a âracistâ: Donald Trump takes bizarre swipe at NBA great LeBron James
US president responds to question about NBAâs âbest everâ
Trump says Balogun red card review âworked out greatâ
In a bizarre response to being asked to weigh in on the basketball careers of â Michael Jordan and LeBron James, Donald Trump said that James may be âa racistâ.
In Fridayâs â White House press â conference, âthe Fox News reporter Peter Doocy mentioned that James intends to sign with â the Philadelphia 76ers, then asked the president whether Jordan or James was the âbest everâ.
Trump replied: âMichael Jordan â is a guy thatâs a friend of mine. âI play golf with him. âHeâs a really âgood guy. I think LeBron is â maybe heâs a âracist, but maybe he doesnât like Trump. I donât know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.â
James has not responded to Trumpâs comments.
James endorsed the three candidates that ran against Trump in âthe past three presidential elections: Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in â2024. He also criticised Trump following the presidentâs withdrawal of the Warriorsâ invitation to the White House in 2017, after the Golden Stateâs Stephen Curry stated that he would have â 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 monthâs Open as a âtough callâ. 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 âreviewâ 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 was a âprecedentâ for someone with his job becoming a âfixerâ for athletes. âI thought the Bryson call was a tough call,â Trump said. âI saw him walking around, I see a lot of people, theyâre walking around looking for their ball in weeds, but Iâve been watching that. I thought it was a tough call against him.
âI thought the red card was a very tough call and it worked out brilliantly. Look, supposing that they didnât let him play and we lost, everyone would have been angry. The way it was that they lost with their best player, now everyoneâs happy, including Belgium â but of course they lost their next game so theyâre not that happy.
âIt 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.â