Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday to bring back the presidential fitness test, a series of physical tests for schoolchildren in the US that was in place for decades but suspended 12 years ago to focus less on competition and more on healthy lifestyles.
Trump plans to announce the test’s revival in a press event with famous athletes. The executive order also will reestablish the president’s council on sports, fitness, and nutrition.
The presidential fitness test was required in public schools in some form from the late 1950s until 2013, when it was changed into a program less focused on specific feats of strength.
The test involves activities like a one-mile run, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups and a sit-and-reach. People who participated in the program as children often have memories , both fond and not, of their experiences attempting these challenges in their gym classes.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, will administer the fitness program. There will also be criteria for a “presidential fitness award”. In past iterations of the program, the top 15% of performers would receive the award.
“MAKE AMERICA FIT AGAIN!” Karoline Leavitt , the White House press secretary, wrote in a post on X about reintroducing the test. The fitness test aligns with the make America healthy again movement’s focus on physical wellness and exercise.
“President Trump wants every young American to have the opportunity to emphasize healthy, active lifestyles – creating a culture of strength and excellence for years to come,” Leavitt said in a statement.
Trump, an avid golfer, reportedly believes exercise is “misguided”, as a person is “born with a finite amount of energy”, the New Yorker reported in 2017.
