President Donald Trump has confirmed he will not attend the 2026 Super Bowl on February 8, 2026, and that he believes this year's performers Bad Bunny and Green Day will "sow hatred". The president added that he was "anti-them," referencing the artists who have been confirmed to perform during the championship NFL game.
Pop punk band Green Day, known for their anti-MAGA beliefs and willingness to change their lyrics to reflect their standpoint, will open the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, while Puerto-Rican rapper Bad Bunny will be the half-time performer.
"I'm anti-them. I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible," Trump told the New York Post on the same day that 37-year-old US citizen Alex J. Pretti was fatally shot in cold daylight by Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Regarding his decision not to attend, he said: "It’s just too far away… I would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter."
Trump's administration has also been accused of sowing hatred through divisive rhetoric, targeting of minority groups, and encouraging aggressive actions against political opponents. Researchers have confirmed a spike in hate-related harassment, vandalism, and assaults in the 10 years since his first election, and the normalization of hate speech.
Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong has voiced his support for Minnesotans who have been peacefully protesting in recent weeks amid an ongoing assault by ICE officers in the Twin Cities; as well as Alex Pretti, mom-of-two Renee Good was also fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.
"This song is anti-fascism, this song is anti-war. We stand up for our brothers and sisters in Minnesota," Billie said before performing the song "Holiday".
The band has previously sold t-shirts at concerts with Trump's mugshot to raise money for non-profit organizations.
Bad Bunny previously confirmed that he had accepted the invitation to perform at the Super Bowl as a form of protest.
"What I’m feeling goes beyond myself," Bad Bunny said in a statement. "It's for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL."
"I've been thinking about it these days, and after discussing it with my team, I think I'll do just one date in the United States," he said.
He had previously canceled all US tour dates on his 2025 tour to protect his fan base from being targeted by ICE. His fears were confirmed when, days after the announcement by the NFL, Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem threatened that ICE agents would “be all over” Super Bowl LX.
In the 2025 song "Nuevayol," Bad Bunny also featured an imitation of Trump apologizing "to the immigrants in America. . . . This country is nothing without the immigrants. This country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Cubans."