President Trump to Students: Get Ready to Run Some Laps!

With the stroke of a black Sharpie pen, President Donald Trump has reinstated the awards associated with the famed Presidential Fitness Test Award.

Created by President Eisenhower in 1956 after research revealed American youth were growing increasingly soft and flabby, the physical test was phased out and replaced with a new program by President Obama that focused on general health.

Those of a certain age likely remember the annual ordeal in the school gymnasium that featured sit-ups, pull-ups, a shuttle run, and then a mile jaunt around the track.

You probably didn’t mind it if you were in shape, but dreaded it if you weren’t, which was the whole point of the tradition. 

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body – it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity,” stated President John F. Kennedy. “We are not a nation of spectators. We are a nation of participants.”

Surrounded by schoolchildren, as well as professional golfers Gary Player and Bryson DeChambeau, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Amani Oruwariye, and longtime Major League Baseball pitcher Noah Syndergaard, standing behind President Trump was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services and a renowned fitness advocate.

He stated:

“We need to be competitive with each other. We need to teach people how to win and how to lose and how to process victory and defeat.”

He then added:

“We’re now the sickest nation in the world. We’ve gone from five percent of our kids being obese to twenty percent, seventy percent of adults are obese or overweight, and seventy-seven percent of our children cannot qualify for military service. And that should be an eye-opener for all of us, and I’m so grateful to President Trump for his leadership and his vision of reinstituting the physical fitness test.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who also regularly works out, concurred. 

“We need young, strong, healthy Americans, whether you serve in the military or any other aspect of your life,” he declared. “And I think this Presidential Fitness Test, Mr. President, is a great, perfect thing to restore—something that sets high standards for young people and gives them something to achieve.”

President Trump, who was a three-sport varsity athlete (football, soccer, and baseball), and now at 79 years of age, is a skilled golfer known for drinking voluminous amounts of Diet Coke, joked about his own exercise regimen.

“I work out so much, like, about one minute a day, max. If I’m lucky,” he declared.

Today’s signing reinstates the presidential awards given to students who reach certain milestones. 

Scripture is clear that we’re to treat our bodies well and use it to glorify the Lord (1 Cor. 6:20). The Apostle Paul also states we’re to discipline our body and “keep it under control” (1 Cor. 9:27).

The emphasis on student fitness is part of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” commitment. 

Following the signing ceremony, President Trump went outside to the White House lawn to oversee students doing pull-ups and sit-ups. 

In reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test Award program and incentivizing participation and competition, Mr. Trump and his administration are banking on the belief that more physically fit children will lead to a more disciplined and determined nation. We pray that’s the case.