Donald Trump left the Super Bowl before the fourth quarter on Sunday, leading some to speculate over the reasoning for his early departure.

Some thought the president left because the team he picked to win – the Kansas City Chiefs – were getting an absolute beatdown by the Philadelphia Eagles. Others complained on social media that he wasted taxpayer dollars by only going to half the game.

But the president’s official White House schedule always had him departing around 8:05 p.m. Central Time.

Trump on Sunday became the first-ever sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. It was likely skipped by his predecessors due to the headache it could cause for the most highly protected individual to go in and out of the stadium.

When a president attends public events, the grounds of said event become a lot more chaotic and require a ton more security from members of the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement partners.

For security and logistical purposes, it’s not unusual for presidents to depart crowded, public events before they end, or for the audience to be prevented from exiting or entering when the president is moving.

For example, then-First Lady Jill Biden attended the World Series in November 2022 to cheer for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Houston Astros. She also left the game early to get a head start on the crowd.

It’s likely security officials and law enforcement wanted to avoid wrestling with thousands of people anxious to exit the Caesars Superdome Stadium on Sunday at the conclusion of the NFL championship game.

Critics on social media were already in meltdown mode over Trump’s attendance at the Super Bowl, which some estimates claim cost the government up to $15-$20 million.

‘Taxpayers paid over $20 million for Felon Donald Trump to attend half the Super Bowl. He reportedly left before Halftime. Where is DOGE at?’ a liberal podcaster posted to X.

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Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday after watching most of the 2025 Super Bowl at the Caesar’s Superdome

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President Trump met with first responders and victims of the January 1 Bourbon Street terrorist attack on the field of Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl 59 kickoff on Sunday, February 9, 2025

Republicans against Trump wrote: ‘Trump is the first president to attend a Super Bowl game, a trip that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars—some estimates suggest as much as $15 million. What happened to ‘government efficiency’?’

Trump arrived at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana around 4:30 p.m. Central Time on Sunday – an hour before kickoff.

The president remained a few minutes ahead of his official schedule, with the motorcade departing the stadium at 7:55 p.m. Central Time.

The Super Bowl game lasted at least another hour after Trump departed.

He arrived back in Washington, D.C. at 11:51 p.m. Eastern Time.

Trump predicted that the Chiefs, who were lined-up for a three-peat but were absolutely crushed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, would win.

He praised their quarterback Patrick Mahomes during an interview with Fox News Bret Baier where he claimed the QB’s wife Brittany Mahomes is a ‘mega-Trump fan.’

‘I hate to do it – I guess you have to say that when a quarterback wins as much as he’s won – I have to go with Kansas City,’ the president told Baier in clips played ahead of the big game on Sunday.

‘At the same time, Philadelphia is fantastic, it’s going to be just a great game,’ he added.

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President Trump salutes the American Flag as the National Anthem plays ahead of the Chiefs v. Eagles Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, February 9

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Trump sat alongside New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson (left) and his daughter Ivanka and grandson Theodore, 8, for the NFL championship game. Also in the box were several Republican lawmakers and members of the president’s Cabinet

Trump went on to praise Mahomes and his wife, who are widely popular on social media and are rumored to be Trump supporters.

‘I’ve watched this great quarterback – who has, by the way, a phenomenal wife, okay, she’s a Trump fan,’ the president claimed. ‘She’s a mega-fan, so I happen to love her.’

‘She’s a great person,’ he said of Brittany Mahomes. ‘I watched her being interviewed, I said it’s pretty good, but she’s great and he’s great.’

Patrick Mahomes, when asked about Trump attending the game on Sunday, said: ‘It’s always cool to be able to play in front of a sitting president.’

Meanwhile, his wife received backlash in August after she liked an Instagram picture posted by Trump that included the GOP’s 2024 platform. Other reports noted that she liked a comment on one of her own posts that read ‘TRUMP-VANCE 2024.’

‘To be a hater as an adult, you have to have some deep rooted issues you refuse to heal from childhood,’ she wrote in a post responding to the backlash without directly addressing the claims of being a Trump supporter. ‘There’s no reason your brain is fully developed and you hate to see others doing well.’

The 29-year-old quarterback made it clear last year he was not endorsing anyone in the 2024 presidential election.