President Donald Trump was criticized after mocking a young girl's volleyball aspirations during a physical fitness event for children at the White House.
Trump spent Tuesday at a White House ceremony reviving the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, joined by golfers Bryson DeChambeau and Gary Player, along with a group of children. At one point, he spoke with several of the children in the Oval Office about their future ambitions.
After one young girl said she hoped to grow up and play volleyball, Trump, rather than simply encouraging her goal, suggested she might want to reconsider and pursue something else instead.
When Trump asked her what sport she plays, the girl said:
“I play volleyball and in the summer I’m trying to get into soccer.”
Trump then asked:
“And with your height do you smash the volleyball? Can you get up high? Can you jump high?”
When the girl said "not very," Trump, to the laughter of those in the room, said:
" Soccer might be better. I'm just looking and thinking she'd be a great soccer player."
You can watch their exchange in the video below.
The video also highlights Trump's lack of knowledge about volleyball, since shorter players often serve in valuable roles as defensive specialists and liberos in the back court.
People were not amused.
Trump revived the Presidential Physical Fitness Award as part of a broader effort to restore annual fitness testing in America’s schools.
The award was historically tied to the Presidential Fitness Test—a staple of public education for decades before it was phased out under former President Barack Obama in favor of a health program focused less on competition and more on long-term wellness.
Trump signed an order last summer reestablishing the test, first created in the 1950s, which previously measured students through exercises such as a one-mile run and sit-ups, with top performers earning the award. Details of the revamped version have not yet been released.
Still, Trump’s embrace of physical fitness struck some as ironic given his well-documented aversion to exercise and public fondness for fast food, even as he declared that his administration "is working very hard to defend America's cherished athletic traditions and pass our values of excellence and competitiveness to the next generation."
