Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
Madison Square Garden heard it. The TV cameras caught it. The White House pool reporters documented it. Donald Trump? He heard something else entirely.
Trump attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night (June 8), becoming the first sitting president ever to attend an NBA Finals game. When he appeared on the MSG jumbotron during the national anthem, the crowd's response was immediate and unmistakable. The arena erupted in boos.
The White House pool report described the reaction as "thunderous." The boos were picked up on the ABC broadcast, caught on video from multiple angles inside the arena, and echoed at watch parties across the city. Fans outside MSG could be heard cursing at Trump as he arrived — in a clip the president himself posted to social media.
Trump's post-game read on all of it? "I think mostly cheers. It was loud, and it was very enthusiastic."
Trump attended as the guest of Knicks owner James Dolan, a longtime friend and donor who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to his presidential campaigns. He watched from Dolan's suite alongside granddaughter Kai, personal adviser Boris Epshteyn, and Cabinet members Lee Zeldin, Sean Duffy, and Doug Burgum.
His presence came at a cost beyond the noise. Trump's attendance caused fans to wait two hours or more to enter the arena due to heightened security, with street closures and checkpoints disrupting travel across the area for much of the day. Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox put it plainly: "The President being here just makes it inconvenient for everyone else."
The Knicks lost 115-111 — snapping a 13-game playoff winning streak — and some fans were quick to assign blame. When asked about the sky-high ticket prices for the Finals, Trump offered this: "That's the way life goes. It's sort of semi-free to watch it on television."
This isn't the first time Trump has been booed at a major New York sporting event. At the 2025 U.S. Open men's final in Queens — the borough where he grew up — the crowd booed him audibly on the ABC telecast. Trump, upon hearing the reaction, "offered a smirk," which reportedly made the boos louder.
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