Patriot Games (event)
United States sporting event
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The Patriot Games were a sporting event founded by the Trump administration, held from August 9 to August 11, 2026. Each US state sent one male and female student. The Patriot Games was first announced in July 2025.
Background
The Patriot Games were a sporting event founded by President Donald Trump in his second term, in which each state and territory sends one male student and one female student selected by The Patriot Games to compete.[1][2] The games were a part of the United States' Semiquincentennial celebrations.[3] Freedom 250 is currently hosting the Patriot Games.[4] The event was hosted from August 9 through August 11, 2026.[5] Each winner of the games will get $125,000 in scholarships.[6]
All participants were between the ages of 14 and 17 and were United States citizens or legal residents. The event included skills initially tested by the Presidential Fitness Test, a military-esque boot camp course, and an obstacle course.[7] Several selected participants represented states that they do not live in, and the body of selected participants as a whole was described by CNN as "overwhelmingly white" with many participants coming from Christian schools. Transgender athletes were forbidden to compete.[1][8][9]
History
The event was first announced in July 2025.[10] President Donald Trump announced plans for the event on December 18, 2025, in a video published by Freedom 250.[2][11] Trump stated in his announcement that he would not let transgender athletes compete, and subsequently The Patriot Games selected to represent the state of Maine a student from New Hampshire who focused her audition tape on how her school "chose to stand by American morals that people once died for" by refusing to play basketball against a school with a transgender athlete on its team.[12][8] The event was initially planned to be held in Washington D.C., but, in July 2026, the event was moved to SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.[13]
Response
Eric Cannon, writing for the Indiana Daily Student, compared the event to a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice awards event.[14] Governor Jeff Landry asked students in his state of Louisiana to apply.[15]
The X account for the Democratic Party quoted The Hunger Games: “And so it was decreed that, each year, the various districts of Panem would offer up, in tribute, one young man and woman to fight to the death in a pageant of honor, courage and sacrifice." (The Hunger Games, 2012)”[8] Saturday Night Live made a similar comparison to that of the Democratic Party.[16]
