US President Donald Trump was met with loud cheers and chants of “USA! USA!” as he attended the final rounds of the 2024-25 NCAA wrestling championships on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Oklahoma Republican senator Markwayne Mullin, who interacted with Trump at the event, said the enthusiastic reception was a testament to the admiration many in the crowd hold for the president.
“They respect a fighter. That’s right at President Trump’s base,” Mullin said on Fox & Friends Weekend the following day. “He couldn’t have been more at home in that crowd than myself or any other wrestler that was participating there.”
Trump was joined by several of his allies, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, House judiciary committee chairman Jim Jordan, senator Dave McCormick, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and former WWE executive and current education secretary Linda McMahon.
During the event, Trump reportedly turned to Mullin and remarked on the crowd’s excitement.
“He said, ‘They absolutely love me here, don’t they?’ I said, ‘Sir, they do.’ He said, ‘Why do you think that?’ And I told him, ‘Sir, every male in this building, and I’d say a lot of the females, have been punched in the face. We’re wrestling fans… they respect a fighter, and they respect you,'” Mullin recalled.
The senator also took a jab at President Joe Biden, claiming he would not receive a similar reception at such an event.
“If Joe Biden walked in that room, they wouldn’t be chanting ‘USA.’ They’d be chanting something else,” Mullin quipped.
This marks the second time in three years that Trump has attended the NCAA wrestling championships, having previously made an appearance at the 2023 event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
