President Donald Trump signs three executive actions in the Oval Office on January 28, 2017 in Washington, DC, The actions outline a reorganization of the National Security Council, implement a five year lobbying ban on administration officials and a lifetime ban on administration officials lobbying for a foreign country and calls on military leaders to present a report to the president in 30 days that outlines a strategy for defeating ISIS. Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI

President Trump declines invitation to fill out NCAA Tournament bracket on ESPN

It had been a yearly tradition under the Obama Administration, but appears to be dead in the Trump Administration. That was the filling out of the NCAA Tournament bracket. Under Barack Obama, the President would fill out both a men’s and women’s tournament bracket. President Donald Trump will do no such thing this March.

[link_box id=”81189″ site_id=”94″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]The Worldwide Leader did reach out to the White House to have Trump fill out a bracket on TV just like his predecessor, but was turned down.

ESPN said in a statement:

“We expressed our interest to the White House in continuing the presidential bracket. They have respectfully declined.”

The White House issued its own statement to the Washington Post:

“We look forward to working with ESPN on another opportunity in the near future.”

ESPN knew that a change of Chief Executives would likely mean an end of the March tradition, but they made the request anyway. The idea had been hatched by ESPN college basketball insider Andy Katz who knew President Obama was a big hoops fan.

But now with a new President, ESPN will move on. As for the Presidential brackets, they’re the property of the Smithsonian Natural Museum of American History.

As the White House mentioned, it looks forward to working with ESPN on another idea. What that will be neither side is saying, but at least next month, fans who were had been used to comparing their own brackets to the White House will have to look somewhere else in March.

[Washington Post]

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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