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President Donald Trump attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduation ceremony on Wednesday and honored two senior athletes.
While speaking at the graduation in New London, Connecticut, Trump said that the graduating class was “blessed with many tremendous athletes” and invited two in particular to join him on stage.
First, Trump introduced Broock Desta, the academy’s all-time leader in receptions, yards and touchdowns.
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Cadet Savannah Riera, president of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Class of 2026, presents a football helmet to President Donald Trump during the commencement ceremony at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., on May 20, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“Do we have a little NFL future here? Maybe? I don’t know, usually that could happen when you’re leading by that much,” Trump said of Desta.
Desta also played for the academy’s basketball team his senior season, but he was a true star on the gridiron. In 36 career games, Desta caught 29 touchdowns while also rushing for one and throwing another. He racked up 3,487 receiving yards on 234 catches.
Next to the stage was women’s lacrosse star Abby McAllister, the women’s lacrosse program’s all-time leader in assists and points.
“Are you that good?” Trump asked jokingly before adding, “That’s a big record.”
“We throw them a little off on timing when I do this, but what the hell? We have time. Right? This is your day. And when somebody achieves what these people did, we should give them a little extra recognition, right?” Trump continued.
President Donald Trump arrives at the 145th U.S. Coast Guard commencement ceremony on Cadet Memorial Field at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., on May 20, 2026. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Between introducing the athletes, Trump mentioned his executive order from 2019 in which he allowed graduates of the U.S. military academies to play professional sports before fulfilling their active-duty requirement.
“We made it possible for people like Broock that really have a great ability at sport, and in some cases, will be drafted by the NFL or have a chance of getting into the NFL, or baseball or basketball or whatever it might be. The problem is they had a service,” Trump said. “You know, they had to serve five years. And that’s not exactly conducive to being drafted very high if you had to go away…
“It has made such a difference. It’s also made a big difference in recruiting. That’s why your teams are better today than they used to be. … it made your recruiting much better because you’re able to now recruit the top the top people, people that really have a chance of getting into professional sports and one of the reasons you have such good teams.”
Trump was also presented a Coast Guard football helmet.
President Donald Trump delivers the commencement address to the United States Coast Guard Academy’s 2026 graduating class in New London, Connecticut, on May 20, 2026. (Kent Nishimura/AFP)
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As NIL has run rampant in college sports, Trump signed an executive order to “preserve the unique American institution of college athletics by restoring order, fairness, and stability” last month.
The order “directs Federal agencies to bolster the effectiveness of key college-sports rules on transferring, eligibility, and pay-for-play by evaluating whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for Federal grants and contracts.”
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