Saquon Barkley ‘shocked’ to hear Trump mention him as part of president’s youth fitness council, clarifies he’s not joining

President Trump issued an executive order reviving the Presidential Fitness Test, and he invited Barkley and several other high-profile athletes to join his fitness council.

On July 31, President Donald Trump—through an executive order—reinstated the national fitness test, which anyone who attended public schools in the United States (or in Department of Defense schools for kids of military parents overseas) from 1956 until 2013 is familiar with.

According to NBC News, “Students were generally asked to perform some combination of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, running, and reaching for their toes while seated. Starting in the 1960s, those with the highest fitness scores were eligible to receive a Presidential Physical Fitness Award.”

In 2013, President Barack Obama replaced the fitness test with the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, focusing more on individual health than the requirements of the original fitness test.

In his executive order, Trump also established his Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, which would be tasked with determining the criteria for the new fitness test and performance awards associated with it. It is chaired by professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau. At the press conference announcing the return to a national fitness test and the council, several high-profile athletes and entertainers were named as members of the council, but one of those athletes reportedly declined the invitation. 

According to CBS News Philadelphia, during a press conference at the Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp, recent Super Bowl winning running back Saquon Barkley clarified that he, in fact, declined the invitation to join the panel. Apparently, he declined the invite some time ago and didn’t expect to hear his name mentioned as a member, leaving him “a little shocked.”

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“A couple of months ago, it was brought to my team about the council. So, I’m not really too familiar with it. I felt like that I’m going to be super busy [with the football season], so me and my family thought it probably was in our best interest to not accept that. [I] was definitely a little shocked when my name was mentioned, but I’m assuming it’s something great. But [I] was a little shocked when my name was mentioned.”

While Barkley cited his work commitments as reasons he ultimately decided not to join the president’s council, in February of this year, Barkley was the subject of significant media and public backlash after playing golf with Trump and flying aboard Air Force One with the president. He was also one of several Eagles players who attended the White House, as is often tradition for the team winning the Super Bowl (and various other sporting events). 

At the time, Barkley shot back on X, formerly Twitter, writing, “Some people are really upset cause I played golf and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT. Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have [an] amazing day.”

Other (reportedly confirmed) members of the President’s Council on Youth, Sports, and Nutrition include Tony Romo, Wayne Gretzky, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, wrestler Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Jack Nicklaus, among others. The rollout for the new fitness test will be administered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.