Donald Trump left the Super Bowl before the fourth quarter on Sunday, leading some to speculate over the reason for his early departure.
Many speculated that the president departed because the team he had supported, the Kansas City Chiefs, was facing a severe defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Others complained on social media that he wasted taxpayer dollars by only going to half the game.
However, it can be revealed that the president’s official White House schedule always had him departing around 8:05 p.m. Central Time.
He was on board Air Force One with over an hour of the game still to go.
Trump on Sunday became the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl.
The presence of a highly important individual like the president entering and leaving the stadium poses a significant security challenge, which is one of the reasons why presidents are often hesitant to attend large-scale events.
When a president does attend public gatherings, there is an increased need for security personnel from the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement, which can sometimes lead to disorder and confusion.
To ease security and logistical problems it is not unusual for presidents to depart such events before they end, or for the audience to be prevented from exiting or entering when the president is moving.
Sunday’s event in New Orleans required extra preparation as Trump became the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl – just weeks after a terror attack on the city’s Bourbon Street became the latest grim reminder of the challenges of securing mass gatherings.
Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday after watching most of the 2025 Super Bowl at the Caesar’s Superdome
But the traveling press pool who accompanied President Trump to the event, which included DailyMail.com, had always been scheduled to leave the game before its conclusion.
Trying to orchestrate a ‘movement’ by the president while 80,000 ticket-holders left the event could have been a logistical nightmare.
Trump’s team had drawn up a detailed plan to pull off the Super Bowl appearance, which was being hailed as a PR coup for the presdient.
That meant figuring out where reporters and photographers could go to see the president up close, gathering information about lighting and distance, and thinking through other factors that can make for a strong image.
His arrival inside the stadium through the Chiefs’ tunnel had been planned in detail in advance, although Trump ended up getting there late and had a surprise encounter with Chiefs star Chris Jones.
White House media handlers ensured that the pool was in vans ready to leave the massive stadium well before half-time performer Kendrick Lamar started his show.
They were ready to roll just as soon as the president was ready.
The design of the stadium made the advance coordination necessary. Trump was up in a luxury box with daughter Ivanka and Republican senators.
But for him to leave, he had to be reunited with an entourage that included four separate vans of reporters and photographers, plus several black SUVs ferrying senators to and from the game.
The assemblage of VIPs bearing special credentials had to move quickly through the tunnels. All had been ‘swept’ by security in advance so that they are able to be in close proximity to the president without compromising his safety.
There are always additional security measures in place for large sporting events where lots of VIPs and political figures are expected to attend.
For example, then-First Lady Jill Biden attended the World Series in November 2022 to cheer for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Houston Astros. She also left the game early to get a head start on the crowd.
It is likely security officials and law enforcement wanted to avoid wrestling with thousands of people anxious to exit the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday at the conclusion of the game.
Critics on social media were already in meltdown mode over Trump’s attendance at the Super Bowl, which some estimates claim cost the government up to $20 million.
‘Taxpayers paid over $20 million for Felon Donald Trump to attend half the Super Bowl. He reportedly left before Halftime. Where is DOGE at?’ a liberal podcaster posted to X.
President Trump met with first responders and victims of the January 1 Bourbon Street terrorist attack on the field of Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl 59 kickoff on Sunday, February 9, 2025
A group called ‘Republicans against Trump’ wrote: ‘Trump is the first president to attend a Super Bowl game, a trip that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars—some estimates suggest as much as $15 million. What happened to ‘government efficiency’?’
Trump arrived at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana around 4:30 p.m. Central Time on Sunday – an hour before kickoff.
And the president remained a few minutes ahead of his official schedule, with the motorcade departing the stadium at 7:55 p.m. Central Time.
The Super Bowl game and post-game celebrations lasted for at least another hour after Trump left the stadium.
He arrived back in Washington, D.C. at 11:51 p.m. Eastern Time.
Trump predicted that the Chiefs, who were lined-up for a three-peat but were absolutely crushed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, would win.
He praised their quarterback Patrick Mahomes during an interview with Fox News Bret Baier where he claimed the QB’s wife Brittany Mahomes is a ‘mega-Trump fan.’
‘I hate to do it – I guess you have to say that when a quarterback wins as much as he’s won – I have to go with Kansas City,’ the president told Baier in clips played ahead of the big game on Sunday.
‘At the same time, Philadelphia is fantastic, it’s going to be just a great game,’ he added.
President Trump salutes the American Flag as the National Anthem plays ahead of the Chiefs v. Eagles Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, February 9
Trump sat alongside New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson (left) and his daughter Ivanka and grandson Theodore, 8, for the NFL championship game. Also in the box were several Republican lawmakers and members of the president’s Cabinet
Trump went on to praise Mahomes and his wife, who are widely popular on social media and are rumored to be Trump supporters.
‘I’ve watched this great quarterback – who has, by the way, a phenomenal wife, okay, she’s a Trump fan,’ the president claimed. ‘She’s a mega-fan, so I happen to love her.’
‘She’s a great person,’ he said of Brittany Mahomes. ‘I watched her being interviewed, I said it’s pretty good, but she’s great and he’s great.’
Patrick Mahomes, when asked about Trump attending the game on Sunday, said: ‘It’s always cool to be able to play in front of a sitting president.’
Meanwhile, his wife received backlash in August after she liked an Instagram picture posted by Trump that included the GOP’s 2024 platform. Other reports noted that she liked a comment on one of her own posts that read ‘TRUMP-VANCE 2024.’
‘To be a hater as an adult, you have to have some deep rooted issues you refuse to heal from childhood,’ she wrote in a post responding to the backlash without directly addressing the claims of being a Trump supporter. ‘There’s no reason your brain is fully developed and you hate to see others doing well.’
The 29-year-old quarterback made it clear last year he was not endorsing anyone in the 2024 presidential election.
