U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a roundtable discussion on college sports at the White House on March 6, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
President Donald Trump vowed Friday to issue an executive order to “fix” the “chaos” in college sports caused by NIL payments to football, basketball and other athletes, as well as legal settlements that allow universities to pay players directly.
President Trump said he fully expects such an order would be challenged in court, but added that he hopes a judge will support the purpose of the order.
“We’re going to get sued, we’re going to go to court, and we’re going to do it here again,” he said.
President Trump’s comments on the name, image and likeness payment system, the House of Representatives v. NCAA lawsuit settlement and other issues were made during the Saving College Sports Roundtable held at the White House.
Those in attendance included NCAA President Charlie Baker, former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Labada.
No student-athletes were invited to the event. Organizations representing college and professional athletes oppose efforts to limit the rights college athletes have under the current NIL structure.
“I intend to issue an executive order within a week,” he said. “This will solve every possible problem in this room.”
“If this doesn’t work, college sports will be destroyed,” President Trump said. “Women’s sports will be destroyed.”
Johnson suggested Trump allow Republicans in Congress to try to address the alleged issue by continuing to seek passage of the so-called SCORE Act, which the NCAA supports. The bill would, among other things, pre-empt state regulations regarding NIL payments.
The conference was held less than a year after a federal judge signed the House of Representatives v. NCAA settlement. The settlement allows universities to spend up to $20.5 million annually to pay players directly, with the amount increasing each year.
Most of that spending goes to the two sports that generate the most revenue for the university: football and basketball.
“The amount of money that very successful schools have spent and lost in a short period of time is staggering,” Trump said. “The situation is only going to get worse.
“It’s crazy,” President Trump said. “Young guys are being signed. We’re signing 17-year-old quarterbacks for $12 million, $13 million, $14 million.”
“We have a seventh-year freshman,” he said. “We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before. Some college players don’t want to go to the NFL because they make more money in college, right?”
“There’s a lot of really bad things going on, but fundamental questions like who is eligible to play are currently effectively unregulated and decided randomly by judges rather than by reasonable, agreed-upon rules that are very simple and very simply laid down,” he said.
“So this has developed into a major challenge.”
Critics of NIL compensation and direct payment programs in college sports argue that they undermine school finances and their educational obligations.
