Donald Trump sent NASCAR fans wild at the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon as Air Force One flew over the track in Florida before his hugely anticipated arrival at the race.
The President’s plane was cheered by the fans at the circuit, with Trump making a second straight appearance at a major sporting event.
Last week, he was the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl when he headed to New Orleans to watch the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
Trump’s plane touched down shortly after 1pm and he descended the front stairs of Air Force One carrying several red MAGA hats.
He was followed by Eric and Lara Trump and two of their children.
Trump put on one of the MAGA hats, matching his red tie, and stopped for several minutes to speak to greeters, which appeared to include Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
�� WATCH: President Trump just did an EPIC flyover at the Daytona 500
The crowd went absolutely WILD! ��
It’s like one big MAGA rally!
pic.twitter.com/VujMEBZpZo— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 16, 2025
Donald Trump has landed in Florida ahead of his appearance at the Daytona 500 on Sunday
Trump promptly put on a MAGA hat before making the short journey towards the circuit
Before his face had even been shown on television, his attendance on Sunday sparked an inevitable liberal meltdown on social media.
One fan took to X to say Fox was showing too much of Trump by broadcasting Air Force One circling over the track.
‘Fox you’ve got liberal fans of NASCAR,’ one said. ‘Can we treat Donald Trump like Taylor Swift and show him sparingly. Really don’t need glory shots of AF1 landing.’
Another said: ‘As a fan of NASCAR I am watching the 500 to watch the race. I am not interested nor do I care about Donald Trump being at the race. I want to watch a race and the drivers. NOT Donald Trump.’
A different complainant posted: ‘It wasn’t bad enough that Donald Trump wasted millions attending half of the Super Bowl last weekend…
‘But now he’s attending the NASCAR Daytona 500. How much is hosing the taxpayers for today?’
Those fans were set for an afternoon of frustration, though, with Fox saying on the broadcast that they were expecting to speak to Trump at some point during the race.
While Trump’s Super Bowl attendance was a first for a sitting President, the NASCAR appearance on Sunday isn’t quite as historical – Trump made a visit to the event during his first term as president.
The start of the race had been moved forward an hour due to bad weather forecast in the area later on Sunday.
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