Trump Revives Presidential Fitness Test for Students After Obama Killed Off Program

President Donald Trump is restoring the Presidential Fitness Test for America’s children as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” initiative.

“This is an important step in our mission to make America healthy again,” Trump said, according to the Associated Press.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has said sedentary lifestyles are a major part of the rise in childhood obesity, will be in charge of the test, according to NBC.

.@POTUS: “I’m pleased to announce that we’re officially restoring the Presidential Fitness Test and the Presidential Fitness Award.” pic.twitter.com/fe2xeieKKE

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 31, 2025

“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,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Leavitt added that Trump “wants to ensure America’s future generations are strong, healthy, and successful.”

The test began during the Eisenhower administration of the 1950s but was ended by former President Barack Obama.

🇺🇸 Trump Just Revived the Presidential Fitness Test

Push-ups. Pull-ups. 1-mile runs.
Screens down. Sweat up.
Soft culture? Over.

💡 Why This Is a Cultural Game-Changer:

• A return to performance-based excellence, ditching Obama-era “wellness” programs that prioritized… pic.twitter.com/aDisKeZ8Zf

— Jake (@JakeCan72) July 31, 2025

“About 1 in 5 American children are obese today. In 1980, it was 1 in 20. Among school-age children and adolescents, 40% have at least one chronic health condition — in the 1980s, it was less than 4%,” Kennedy and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote in an opinion piece for USA Today.

Trump’s order brings back the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition “to develop bold and innovative fitness goals for young Americans with the aim of fostering a new generation of healthy, active citizens,” according to a fact sheet issued by the White House.

Who grew up with President Kennedy’s Physical Fitness Test?
Trump is setting the world right! pic.twitter.com/WIWvLLDAHd

— Mike Berrick (@MBerrick37667) July 31, 2025

The fact sheet said Trump “is addressing the widespread epidemic of declining health and physical fitness with a time-tested approach celebrating the exceptionalism of America’s sports and fitness traditions.”

“Rates of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity, and poor nutrition are at crisis levels, particularly among our children,” the fact sheet said.

“These trends weaken our economy, military readiness, academic performance, and national morale,” it added.

The fact sheet said the order is part of Trump’s mission to create a “national culture of strength, vitality, and excellence for the next generation by promoting the physical, mental, and civic benefits of exercise and good nutrition.”

We are metabolically failing as a country.

Currently:

70% of US adults are overweight or obese.

86 million US Adults (1 in 3) are Prediabetic.

1 in 3 of our children are considered overweight or obese. pic.twitter.com/COlzfeBIXx

— Brett Ender 🥩⚡️ (@MeatMafiaBrett) February 24, 2022

Trump was joined at the White House by golfer Bryson DeChambeau, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, New York Giants star Lawrence Taylor, LPGA Tour legend Annika Sorenstam, and WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque, according to Fox News.

“We have an opportunity at being the 70th anniversary of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition, to literally change the fabric of kids’ lives,” DeChambeau said. “Our first initiative is to bring back and reignite the president’s fitness test and also reestablish some key guidelines on building communities.”

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