After years of the left decrying working out and fitness culture as “problematic” and even “white supremacist,” President Donald Trump is putting exercise front and center as part of his broader pledge to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA). While policies addressing serious concerns in the food and pharmaceutical industries have received plenty of attention, equally important are the Trump administration’s efforts to promote regular exercise, particularly among young people.
The United States is currently in the grip of a dire obesity epidemic that has led to skyrocketing rates of arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and a host of other ailments. As of last November, nearly three-quarters of American adults were overweight or obese – a nearly 50 percent increase since 1990.
This crisis is particularly pronounced among children. Currently, about 20 percent of kids are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 10 percent or so are overweight, meaning about 1 in 3 American kids today have weight issues.
Unsurprisingly, about half of children and teens do not exercise regularly, defined as 20 minutes of physical activity at least four times per week. While other societal factors like a dramatic increase in screen time contribute to this trend, the complete collapse of robust physical education in most American public schools also means many children today don’t receive foundational knowledge about exercise that could help them live healthier lives.
But the Trump administration is looking to change that – both through policy and by leading by example.
In a development that has garnered plenty of buzz, Trump announced on July 31 a return of the Presidential Fitness Test while flanked by champion golfers and football players.
As the White House noted in a news release, the test “is a time-honored tradition that has inspired millions of American children to strive for their best performance — physically, mentally, and civically — and served as the gold standard for youth physical fitness across the country for generations.”
The Presidential Fitness Test was created in 1966 under President Lyndon B. Johnson following President Eisenhower’s earlier President’s Council on Youth Fitness amid Cold War fears that American children were less physically fit than their European counterparts. Original standards included timed sit-ups, a 50-yard dash, pull-ups (for boys) or a flexed-arm hang (for girls), a shuttle run, and a one-mile run. Under President Obama, however, the test was changed to a “holistic approach” that eliminated any competitive or standards-driven element.
Trump’s revamped version of the test will once again establish baseline standards for all able-bodied American children to meet.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth also recently announced a new challenge to encourage all of America to get in shape. Dubbing it the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” the two Cabinet secretaries challenged Americans to do 50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups in under 10 minutes.
And it wasn’t just talk – both the 45-year-old Hegseth and the 71-year-old Kennedy hit the weight room to complete the challenge, and posted the video to social media, where it instantly went viral.
“It was President Trump who inspired us to do this,” Secretary Kennedy said. “This is the beginning of our tour, challenging Americans to get back in shape, eat better, but also, you need to get out and exercise.”
50 pull-ups and 100 push-ups in 10 minutes is no small task. A 2021 survey found that most Americans struggle to do just five push-ups. But as Hegseth and Kennedy point out, setting a high bar is precisely the point. Americans who can’t complete the challenge should be encouraged to get in better shape in order to meet that goal.
Hegseth also highlighted a clear national security reason to encourage physical fitness – the country needs fit servicemembers to defend our country. Two-thirds of the military is reportedly overweight. About one-third of young Americans are so obese that they would require a waiver to join the military. This is a particularly pressing issue as the military has struggled with its recruitment goals for years.
“Make America Healthy Again. Fit, not fat,” Hegseth said. “We’re going to have a war-fighting force, young men and women who are prepared to defend the nation. We’re doing it as a team.”
Of course, these efforts to encourage Americans to exercise have been met with predictable hysteria from an establishment media whose knee-jerk reaction is to declare every Trump administration initiative to be “dangerous” and “racist.”
The New York Times, in a line that could’ve been straight out of The Babylon Bee, worried that “high-volume calisthenic couplets… may not be for everyone.” The Washington Post, meanwhile, declared that kids “hated” the test and that “researchers aren’t sure about it either.” Gizmodo accused Trump of reviving the test to “torment a new generation of kids.”
Natalia Petrzela, a Professor of History at The New School in New York City, also called the return of the Presidential Fitness Test “problematic” and “outdated.” Petrzela has notably previously said that the history of running could be racist because “people of color” were allegedly viewed suspiciously for jogging, and her most recent book is titled, Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession.
“Physical fitness has always been central to the far right,” Professor Cynthia Miller-Idriss wrote in another piece for MSNBC, immediately before discussing how Nazi leader Adolf Hitler promoted boxing. “The intersection of extremism and fitness leans into a shared obsession with the male body, training, masculinity, testosterone, strength, and competition,” she laments.
Before Trump, few people on the left or the right viewed exercise as an inherently political act. As Jack Butler succinctly explains for National Review, “Many on the left take care of themselves, and many on the right do not.” That is as true today as it was prior to 2016.
The Trump administration’s push to bring back fitness isn’t about politics – it’s about saving a generation from decline. By making America fit again, Trump and his cabinet are challenging the country to build strength, discipline, and health as the foundation for national renewal.
Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
The last few years, I see more “fit” older people than young. Go to a local high school and watch the kids going in or out. Many of them, girls and boys are way overweight. In my school-age days, there were hardly any obese children. Now it seems kids want to sit at their computer or look at their phones but never go outside to play. Very sad for their physical health and even worse for their mental health. Parents need to take an active role in making sure junk food is a treat and being active actually makes you feel good. My daughter limits screen time for her kids and makes them walk with her and in pool weather, makes them swim at least one hour a day. They grumble but she persists. And she sets a good example.
Want fit and healthy children? First get rid of all the injections the children get, second clean up their diets by taking a good look at the junk most schools are serving and also what is being served in the home. Then get children off the electronic devises and get them outside to play.
Being fit shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s just good common sense. I can remember doing my JFKs.
Did anyone else notice that in this photo, it appears that Trump has a gold eagle on his head?
John F Kennedy, elected President of the United States in 1961 (when I was in middle school), established the only presidential fitness challenge that I remember.
Among other things, we learned that we COULD walk along a balance beam without falling and throw a softball at least 75 ft., IF we practiced and worked at the challenges until we succeeded.
Except for a few classmates with sugnificant health problems, all of the kids in my smalltown class (of 60) eventually passed.
And we cheered each other on to get there.
Presidential Fitness Test: Promise vs. Reality
he executive order “reinstating the President’s Council Fitness Test” sounds great on paper – framing health as national security, reinstating fitness testing, and creating a 30-member council. It feels like “giving kids a Spanish test without Spanish class” – where’s the underlying PE program funding? Only 15% of the kids who will take the test will receive recognition, to the 85% of the kids who do not they may see this as they “failed” exercise leaving them with a negative impression of exercise. You can not fail exercise!
Fitness is a personal choice. If, how much,and what specific exercises a person does, is not the government’s business. JFK’s exercise rules came through when I was in 4th grade and was in place years after I graduated. Now, I was an active child, and a thin child. I could climb trees, hike and explore the local gullies, swim all summer in the local lake, ride my old style one speed bike, sled down hill most of the winter, and was what I deemed to be physically fit. I could not do chin ups, run a mile, or swim laps in a chlorinated pool. That exercise rule ruined gym class, and it was no longer fun activities that kept us moving. I am 72, and oppose anything that will put fitness into a box defined by some government agency.
Merge MAFA & MAHA into one
Fitness is good, but RFK is the wrong person in health department & does not have medical expertise. Trump was for Covid vaccine his first team and was proud of his warp speed vaccine program. Today, Sept 2025, the Covid vaccine is in shambles & total chaos under RFK plus he keeps getting rid of the CDC people that are trying to help him. Trump & RFK should not be proud to be in charge of MEASLES making a comeback in USA & I pray that polio does not come back. Trump needs to think this one over as our trust in the health dept. is falling off a cliff.
That last paragraph in this well written article is very encouraging . I would like to say Well Done President Trump ! This is the sort of strategy needed in order to build a strong foundation for national renewal
Good article Matt Lamb it contains some enlightening information that spells good health ahead — what the. Country needs
Let the Left have a fit over fitness! Hopefully they will just let themselves fall apart over time!
During the early 1960s, it was President John F. KENNE
JFK’s fitness program, known as President Kennedy’s Youth Fitness Program, was launched in the 1960s to promote physical fitness in American youth. Inspired by programs like La Sierra High School’s innovative approach, the initiative featured a national campaign, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, and challenged Americans to embrace vigorous activity and sports. The program encouraged daily exercise, valid fitness testing, and included a memorable 50-mile hike challenge for participants.
Every young man should serve 2 years in the army. Serious phys ed in school would not hurt. Yard work, walking , stairs are good, swimming, there is no need for an expensive membership in the gym, but it can’t be mandated, those who want will do it, those who don’t will come up with an excuse. The old adage in a healthy body is a healthy spirit is true.
voters have lived 17 years of dem presidents and congresses and recognize MAGA is the answer to their empty words and far left promises they don’t want.