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When President Donald Trump hosts an event in the Oval Office and opens the discussion to questions from the media, as he did Friday in welcoming members of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, you get a lot of stupid questions.
I mean, I understand that opportunities to ask the president a question are rare, but with Jim Craig and Mike Eruzione on hand, is now the time to ask about Venezuela?!
President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd before the start of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Regardless, at least one member of the press asked a question that made a lot of sense and concerned NIL.
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It’s appropriate, Back when the Miracle on Ice team played, the Olympics were strictly for amateurs and most of the team members came from various collegiate teams.
If they had played 40+ years later, they might have rolled in some of that NIL dough.
But, as the president has pointed out — and Sen. Ted Cruz would agree with him — the current state of the NIL is simply not sustainable and could cause serious damage to college athletics, and even the Olympics.
U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team, holds up a bill in honor of the team in the Oval Office of the White House December 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump warns college sports are in ‘big trouble’ in cryptic message
“I think it’s a disaster for college sports,” President Trump said. “I think it’s a disaster for the Olympics, because, you know, we’re losing a lot of teams. Colleges are cutting a lot of their – they would sort of call them ‘inferior’ sports, and they’re losing them by numbers that no one can believe. They were truly training grounds, wonderful training grounds, hard-working, wonderful young people. They were training grounds for the Olympics.
“And a lot of these sports that trained so well would win gold medals because of it. These sports don’t exist because they invest all their money in football. And by the way, they invest too much money there, in football.”
President Trump has pointed out that the most successful sports programs don’t make enough money to support themselves, given the rate at which they pay highly sought-after players.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands with Ohio State head coach Ryan Day as he welcomes the 2025 college football national champions Ohio State University to the White House in a ceremony on the South Lawn in Washington, District of Columbia, April 14, 2025. Ohio State won the national championship by defeating Notre Dame 34-23. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“They’re investing all their money, and I know something about that,” President Trump said. “They won’t be able to stop. You have a college president [saying]“I tell you, sir, we give a guard $7 million, we’re going to win the national championship,” and they’ll give them seven, and then they don’t win it.
“And even if they win, colleges can’t afford to pay the kind of salaries you hear about.”
