Trump Warns College System Could Collapse Without Sports Reform

President Trump hosted a White House summit on college athletics, warning that the entire higher education system faces collapse without urgent fixes to player payment issues. He plans to issue an executive order within a week to address the financial crisis facing universities due to new athlete compensation rules.

President Donald Trump issued a stark warning about American higher education during a White House meeting Friday, claiming the nation’s entire university system faces collapse unless urgent action addresses the financial chaos in college athletics.

Speaking to sports officials, lawmakers, and education leaders gathered in the East Room, Trump announced plans to issue a comprehensive executive order within seven days aimed at forcing Congressional action on the mounting crisis. The president acknowledged his order would likely face legal challenges that could return the matter to federal courts.

“The whole educational system is going to go out of business because of this,” Trump stated when questioned about prioritizing sports issues amid other pressing national concerns.

The crisis stems from recent changes allowing college athletes to receive compensation for their name, image, and likeness, which has created severe budget strains for many universities while regulatory frameworks remain incomplete.

Trump expressed nostalgia for the previous system, saying “I thought the system of scholarships was great,” referring to the former era when student-athletes received only educational financial aid. He criticized the court settlement that enabled current payment structures as “horrible,” calling it something that “threw the sports world and college the college athletic world into ‘tithers.'”

Meeting attendees – including conference commissioners, NCAA leadership, and Olympic officials but notably excluding any of the NCAA’s 550,000 student-athletes – largely agreed on the need for immediate intervention. The gathering focused on the SCORE Act, a stalled House bill that could serve as the foundation for reform efforts.

House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated sufficient votes now exist to advance the legislation, though significant disagreements remain about funding solutions.

Texas Tech regent Cody Campbell, present at the summit, requested inclusion in a smaller working group to help craft Trump’s executive order. Campbell has advocated for revising the Sports Broadcasting Act to permit college conferences to combine their television rights, potentially generating an additional $6 billion to sustain athletic programs for decades.

However, major conferences including the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten dispute these projections.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey emphasized the urgency of Senate action, telling lawmakers: “This is not about revenue, this is about structures and national standards.” He outlined how the SCORE Act would address multiple issues, including a controversial limited antitrust exemption for the NCAA that faces Democratic opposition.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, whose committee plays a crucial role in advancing legislation, stressed the need to examine both expenses and revenue streams in developing solutions.

“If we wait another year, wait another two years, the programs in your state are going away and the students in your state are losing their scholarships,” Cruz warned. “It would be an absolute travesty if we let that happen.”