“Excellence” Pursued As President Trump Reinstates The Presidential Fitness Test
on Aug 01, 2025
Executive Order Signed In Keeping With Make America Healthy Again Movement
On Thursday, July 31, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition to “develop strategies to improve America’s physical fitness and renew the American spirit.”
That spirit, Trump said, was marked by “excellence, competitiveness, and sportsmanship.”
In an effort to further that sentiment, Trump announced he was reinstating both the Presidential Fitness Test and the Presidential Fitness Award.
The Presidential Fitness Test grew out of the Youth Fitness Program, which was established in 1956 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 2012, the test was done away with by President Barack Obama in 2012, favoring instead the Presidential Youth Fitness Program.
With next year being the 70th anniversary of the founding of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, the renewal of the test and the award is in keeping with the values held by the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement.
The executive order states:
“As the United States prepares to celebrate its semiquincentennial anniversary in 2026, we must address the threat to the vitality and longevity of our country that is posed by America’s declining health and physical fitness. For far too long, the physical and mental health of the American people has been neglected. Rates of obesity, chronic disease, inactivity, and poor nutrition are at crisis levels, particularly among our children. These trends weaken our economy, military readiness, academic performance, and national morale.”
What Is The Presidential Fitness Test?
Described by many as a “rite of passage,” the Presidential Fitness Test evaluated students age six to 17 on their proficiency in five key physical areas.
The test included:
- One-mile run: how fast can you run a mile?
- Sit-ups: in one minute, how many sit-ups can you do?
- Pull-ups or push-ups: what is the maximum amount of pull-ups or push-ups you can complete?
- Sit-and-reach: how flexible are you?
- Shuttle run: how agile are you?
The Presidential Fitness Award was earned by students whose performance in the test saw them reach or exceed the top 15th percentile.
Notably, Trump’s executive order did not give guidance on the standards to be evaluated in the renewed Presidential Fitness Test.
RFK Jr. On His Uncle’s Commitment To Fitness
Before Trump signed the executive order reinstating the Presidential Fitness Test and Award, HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was asked to speak on the significance of the renewal of these youth athletic initiatives.
He began by noting that his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, wrote an article titled “The Soft American” for Sports Illustrated in December of 1960, just a month before he was sworn in as president.
“[My uncle] was lamenting the fact that America had prided itself on its beef jerky toughness, and that we were losing that,” RFK Jr. said. “He was signaling with that article that he was going to make the physical fitness of our kids the centerpiece of his administration.”
In “The Soft American,” JFK wrote the following:
“For the physical vigor of our citizens is one of America’s most precious resources. If we waste and neglect this resource, if we allow it to dwindle and grow soft, then we will destroy much of our ability to meet the great and vital challenges which confront our people. We will be unable to realize our full potential as a nation.”
Concluding his essay, JFK wrote, “We do not want our children to become a generation of spectators. Rather, we want each of them to be a participant in the vigorous life.”
RFK Jr. went on to reminisce on the importance of the Presidential Fitness Test in his youth, adding, “For me, it was a huge item of pride when I was growing up. We need to re-instill that spirit of competition and that spirit and that commitment to nutrition and physical fitness.”
Watch the full executive order signing, here:
Other Comments
Several members of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition were present at the executive order signing, including professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker, former NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, and WWE CCO Triple H.
Here is a video released by the White House on July 31 about the work of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition:
