politics
Trump Signs Memorandum Reviving Presidential Physical Fitness Award
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on May 5, 2026, restoring the Presidential Physical Fitness Award and reintroducing a competitive fitness test in U.S. schools. The event featured student athletes on the White House South Lawn, where Trump demonstrated his signature dance. Cabinet members attended the Oval Office ceremony emphasizing physical fitness and competition.
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President Donald Trump revived the Presidential Physical Fitness Award on May 5, 2026, signing a memorandum to restore the program during a White House event with student athletes. The initiative reintroduces a competitive physical fitness test in America's schools, which had been phased out during the Obama administration.
Trump unveiled the award at his desk in the Oval Office, flanked by Cabinet members including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health Secretary Robert F. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Housing Secretary Scott Turner. The event promoted the Presidential Fitness Test program, with Trump welcoming local children and families invited to the White House.
Students in attendance played sports including football, volleyball, hockey and golf.
On the White House South Lawn, Trump taught students his 'Trump dance' while 'YMCA' played, demonstrating the arm motions in a moment captured in a clip shared by the White House on X with the caption 'SPOTTED: PRESIDENT TRUMP TEACHING THE TRUMP DANCE ON THE SOUTH LAWN '.
The dance has become a recognizable visual from his rallies. Trump joined the children as they putted at a green, kicked soccer balls and threw a baseball.
Trump signed an order last summer to reestablish the Presidential Fitness Test, building on that effort with the May 5 memorandum. The test, created in the 1950s, was phased out under President Barack Obama in favor of a program minimizing competition and focusing on long-term health.
