Donald Trump Makes Decision on Attending Alabama-Georgia Amid Hurricane Isaias

The White House announced Friday that the president will not travel to Tuscaloosa for Saturday’s game.

Sep 28, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump waves flanked by former Georgia Bulldogs player Herschel Walker, recording art Kid Rock, professional golfer John Daily, Alabama senators Tommy Tuberville (R) and Katie Britt (R) during the second half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — President Donald Trump will not attend Saturday’s Alabama-Georgia game due to Hurricane Isaias, he announced Friday.

He posted on social media that ut was important to ​have first responders focused ‌on helping people, "and in no way be thinking about the safety, or presence, of the President of the United States, ME!"

"Therefore, I will miss that potentially unbelievable Game, Alabama vs. Georgia but, hopefully, the Game will ‌go on despite the weather!" he ​said.

Extra security brought in for the president’s visit started to be immediately pulled from Bryant-Denny Stadium to assist with the storm response. Trump still planned to speak at a campaign rally in Clarksville, Tenn., on Saturday.

Trump announced his plans to attend last week while speaking at a rally inside the Mitchell Center on South Alabama’s campus in Mobile. He was set to watch No. 6 Alabama host No. 2 Georgia in a matchup of unbeaten SEC teams.

The trip would have been Trump’s third time attending an Alabama game at Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2019.

He attended the Crimson Tide’s 41-34 win over Georgia in September 2024, watching from a suite as Alabama earned its first SEC victory under head coach Kalen DeBoer. For that visit, the university’s police department coordinated security with the U.S. Secret Service.

Trump also attended Alabama’s 46-41 loss to LSU in 2019. His most recent visit to the university came in May 2025, when he delivered its commencement address.

According to the National Hurricane Center, as of 3 p.m. ET, the storm was located about 125 miles south of Pensacola, Fla., and roughly 140 miles south of Mobile, Ala., moving north at 17 mph. It's expected to make landfall near the Alabama-Florida state border.

Hurricane Isaias was considered a major category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, strengthening before making landfall along Gulf Coast either late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

The governors of Florida, Alabama and Georgia have declared states of emergency. Evacuations had been ordered in Alabama and Florida and the storm was expected to head up the western side of Alabama and past Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

Alabama and Georgia are scheduled to kick off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC. College GameDay will still be on campus, but has relocated to inside Coleman Coliseum.

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