MIAMI — President Donald Trump entered to a standing ovation and cheers from a crowd of thousands attending a UFC event on Saturday night, shaking hands with supporters against a backdrop of fans waving his trademark MAGA hats.

Just as Trump entered, he greeted podcast host Joe Rogan, who sat to the right of the president. On the other side of Trump sat Elon Musk, billionaire and chief of the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump, who accented his dark suit with a bright yellow tie, pumped his fist in the air, prompting cheers to strains of “Taking Care of Business.”

He brought along several members of his administration and White House team, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and White House communications aides Steven Cheung and Taylor Budowich. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also joined Trump for UFC 314.

Trump entered the arena with UFC President Dana White, with whom he has been close for decades. He was also accompanied by his granddaughter, Kai Trump, the daughter of Donald Trump Jr.

The Republican president is a longtime UFC fan and sports enthusiast, who has frequently attended major fights. The mixed martial arts fight at Miami’s Kaseya Center was Trump’s first UFC visit since he took office in January, and it came weeks after Trump attended the Saudi-sponsored LIV golf tournament at his golf club in Miami.

In a further nod to his sports enthusiasm, Trump has also attended the Super Bowl and Daytona 500 since taking office. He sat cageside at a UFC championship fight in New York City last November, shortly after he won the 2024 election.

Aside from the president, the main event for the UFC 314 fight is a championship bout between Australian former champion Alexander Volkanovski and Brazilian fighter Diego Lopes, who are competing for the featherweight championship title. It’s the fourth UFC event in Miami, in a county that supported the president by about 11 percentage points in the November election.

The president arrived in West Palm Beach on Friday for his 10th visit to South Florida since he became president, spending the evening in his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. He flew to Miami after playing golf at his club in West Palm Beach.

“You know who’s going to win? Dana White. Dana White’s gonna win,” Trump told reporters Saturday night aboard Air Force One.

His close affiliation with UFC helped boost his 2024 presidential campaign among young male voters prior to the November election, where he made promoting hypermasculine tones a signature of the campaign.

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Superville reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.

PORTLAND, Maine — The deadline has arrived for Maine officials to reach a resolution with the U.S. Education Department over a finding that the state violated antidiscrimination laws by allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports.

The Education Department said in March that an investigation concluded the Maine Department of Education violated the federal Title IX law by allowing transgender girls to participate on girls’ teams. The investigation followed a public disagreement between Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump at a February meeting of governors.

The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights issued a final warning on March 31 telling the state it needed to comply with the law in 10 business days or face enforcement from the U.S. Justice Department. That deadline arrived Friday.

Maine education officials have declined to comment on the investigation. Trump has said the state risks losing federal funding if it does not come into compliance.

“The Maine Department of Education’s indifference to its past, current, and future female athletes is astonishing. By refusing to comply with Title IX, MDOE allows — indeed, encourages — male competitors to threaten the safety of female athletes, wrongfully obtain girls’ hard-earned accolades, and deny females equal opportunity in educational activities to which they are guaranteed under Title IX,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

Federal funding is critical to Maine schools. Maine got $358 million in federal funding for K-12 schools in 2021-22, or 10% of its budget, according to data from the Census. About 13% of that money went to Title I, 14% to special education and 20% to child nutrition programs such as school lunches.

Almost half of federal funds were simply marked as “other,” which likely points to the substantial COVID relief funds schools got that year. Prior to the pandemic, Maine got 6% of its funding from federal sources, almost $185 million in 2018-19.

The issue of school funding and transgender participation in sports in Maine began to bubble up when Mills and Trump sparred over the subject during the February meeting at the White House. During the meeting, Trump threatened to pull federal funding from Maine if the state did not comply with his executive order barring transgender athletes from sports.

Mills responded: “We’ll see you in court.”

Soon after, the Education Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched investigations into the state.

Health and Human Services officials said in March that the Maine Department of Education, Maine Principals’ Association and a high school are each in violation of Title IX because of the participation of transgender athletes. The Health Department has already referred the issue to the Justice Department for enforcement in court.

The principals’ association and school district both said they would not comply with a proposed agreement to ban the athletes. The Maine education department declined to comment.

Maine Republicans, who are in the minority in both houses of the Legislature, have put pressure on state Democrats to resolve the investigations. House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, speaking during a news conference, said Mills has created a “hostage situation” that jeopardizes federal funding.

“The governor, and her administration, is holding Maine schools and Maine education under hostage,” Faulkingham said. “This standoff is not going to end well for the state of Maine and its education funding.”

LGBTQ+ rights groups in Maine have defended the state’s approach. “We’re not giving in, and we’re not giving up on our trans community,” EqualityMaine said in a social media post.

Federal authorities have also said they are investigating Maine due to claims school districts in the state violate federal law by withholding information about students’ gender transitioning from parents.

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Associated Press writer Sharon Lurye in New Orleans contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and postseason Tuesday night.

James surpassed the mark with a 3-pointer early in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

James got to 49,999 points Sunday night when he scored 17 while the Lakers beat the Clippers 108-102 for their sixth consecutive win.

The 40-year-old James already is the top scorer in NBA history in both the regular season and the playoffs during a career in which he has rewritten all previous definitions of basketball longevity.

James reached 50,000 points deep into his 22nd season, which ties him with Vince Carter for the most played in NBA history. Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played 20 seasons, is second in NBA history with 44,149 combined points.

And while nearly every other NBA player who lasted to his late 30s finished at a fraction of his peak powers, James’ game shows no significant signs of decline in his 40s. He was named the NBA’s Western Conference player of the month earlier Tuesday after he averaged 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.2 steals in February while playing more than 35 minutes per game for the Lakers, who went 9-2 to surge into second place in the West.

James began Tuesday at third in NBA history with 1,547 regular-season games played, trailing only Robert Parish (1,611) and Abdul-Jabbar (1,560). If he stays healthy and elects to return for a record 23rd season, he will likely surpass Parish next winter.

James has also played in 287 postseason games, the most in NBA history. He became the league’s career playoff scoring leader on May 25, 2017, when he surpassed Michael Jordan’s total of 5,987 during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Eastern Conference finals game at Boston.

James then became the top scorer in regular-season history on Feb. 7, 2023, when he topped Abdul-Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points during the Lakers’ game against Oklahoma City.

James’ prolific scoring is due in large part to his metronomic consistency. With his performance against the Clippers, he has scored at least 10 points in 1,277 consecutive games since Jan. 6, 2007 — by far the longest such streak in NBA history.

James’ player of the month award for February was his 41st, extending his own league record. He also became the oldest player to win the award, surpassing a 37-year-old Karl Malone in November 2000.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump is planning to attend Sunday’s Daytona 500 for the second time as president and help further burnish his image as a sports fan.

He was at the race in 2020 while running for a second term. Trump was given the honor of being grand marshal of NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious event of the year and delivered the command for drivers to start their engines.

Trump also thrilled thousands of NASCAR fans in the stands with an Air Force One flyover before he rode in the presidential limousine onto the Daytona International Speedway.

Last weekend, the Republican made history as the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl. Trump also attends college football games and UFC fights and is an avid golfer.

Asked what he enjoyed most about NASCAR, Trump said during a 2020 interview with Fox News that it was the bravery and courage of the drivers pursuing “pure American glory.”

He described the Daytona 500 as a “legendary display of roaring engines, soaring spirits and the American skill, speed and power that we’ve been hearing about for so many years. The tens of thousands of patriots here today have come for the fast cars and the world-class motorsports. But NASCAR fans never forget that no matter who wins the race, what matters most is God, family and country.’’

The sport’s fans are seen as leaning conservative.

At the White House in 2018, Trump honored NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. and Furniture Row Racing.

Last May, as a former president and candidate for reelection, Trump attended the Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the swing state of North Carolina.

One NASCAR driver said having a president on hand Sunday for “one of our biggest days of the year is special.”

“It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race,” said Chase Elliott.

NEW ORLEANS — A performer in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was detained on the field and could face charges after unfurling a combination Sudan-Palestine flag with “Sudan” and “Gaza” written on it.

The NFL confirmed the person was part of the 400-member field cast. The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that “law enforcement is working to determine applicable charges in this incident.”

“The individual will (be) banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said in an emailed statement.

The performer stood on a car used as a prop for Lamar’s performance and held up the flag. The NFL said “the individual hid the item on his person and unveiled it late in the show” and that “no one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.”

Roc Nation, the entertainment company which produced the show, said that the act “was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”

The show continued without interruption, and it did not seem as though the person was shown on the broadcast of Lamar’s performance.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/nfl

NEW ORLEANS — Clark Hunt was not quite 5 years old when he settled into his seat in Tulane Stadium beside his parents to watch the Kansas City Chiefs, the franchise his father had founded in the brazen days of the American Football League, as they played the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV.

Hunt doesn’t remember the game itself. But once in a while, photos will surface that he has never seen before.

“I do have a photo of me sitting with my parents in the stands, right? I think they were benches. It sort of looked like a corner,” said Hunt, now 59, who assumed control of the Chiefs when his father, the visionary Lamar Hunt, died in December 2006.

“I guess that shows you how things have changed,” Hunt said.

Indeed, it’s a safe bet that Hunt and the rest of his family will have comfortable seats in a luxury suite when the Chiefs face the Eagles on Sunday at the Superdome.

Led by Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and with a celebrity fan base that includes Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark, the Chiefs were chasing an unprecedented third consecutive Lombardi Trophy.

The fact was not lost on Hunt that they were trying to make history in the same city where they won their first Super Bowl with a 23-7 victory over the Vikings on Jan. 11, 1970.

In fact, Hunt seemed to view the coincidence as something closer to kismet, a point that he underscored by pointing out that the Chiefs spent this week practicing at Tulane University.

“I hate to say I don’t have any memories from that Super Bowl,” he said, “but getting to go to Tulane where we’re training and being literally a stone’s throw from the old stadium where we won Super Bowl IV is really special.

“I always think about my parents Super Bowl week,” Hunt added, “There’s no way not to. But this one is going to be special.”

There’s an argument to be made that nobody had a greater influence on the big game than Lamar Hunt.

The oil magnate was part of the “Foolish Club” that founded the AFL, back when they were being kept out of the NFL, and he was instrumental in the merger years later that ultimately brought the two professional football leagues together.

In a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt mused about the pending title game, saying: “I have kiddingly called it the ‘Super Bowl,’ which obviously can be approved upon.” He was inspired by the must-have Christmas gift of the year that his wife, Norma, had gotten Clark Hunt and the rest of the kids: the Super Ball, made by toy company Wham-O.

Lamar Hunt regularly attended the Super Bowl, though he never saw his Chiefs play in it again. They wouldn’t make it back until Andy Reid arrived in town, and Mahomes and Kelce helped Kansas City beat the 49ers in February 2020 — five full decades after they triumphed over the “Purple People Eaters” and the rest of the Vikings at Tulane Stadium.

Norma Hunt continued to attend the Super Bowl until her death in June 2023. At the time, she was one of four people — and the only woman — who had attended every game, beginning with the Chiefs’ loss to the Packers on Jan. 15, 1967.

The Chiefs are back Sunday for the fifth time in six years. And they are chasing a three-peat against the Eagles, the team Kansas City beat a couple of years ago in Glendale, Arizona, to win the first of its back-to-back championships.

“I would say every Chiefs fan is spoiled, and that includes me, right? Because it has been such a special five or six years,” Hunt told a small group of local reporters this week. “And I think we know we’re spoiled because of the journey that it took to get to this point, and the five decades we went without getting back to the Super Bowl.”

This is the 11th time that New Orleans has played host to the big game, tying Miami for the most of any city. The French Quarter had been packed all week with fans wearing Chiefs red and Eagles green, creating a kaleidoscope of Christmas colors stretching from Jackson Square to Canal Street, and bubbling all the way up to the Superdome.

The home of the Saints, and the de facto replacement for Tulane Stadium, is hosting the game for the eighth time.

“I don’t think any of us really could have dreamed it being like this, and having the success we’ve had,” Clark Hunt said. “My dad would have loved it because in his heart, he was a fan — him and my mom were fans, first and foremost. And he would love it for our fans, because that was always a focus of his.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Miami Dolphins will be one of the teams to play in Madrid next season at Bernabéu Stadium, the NFL announced Friday.

The Dolphins will be the designated “home” team for what will be the first-ever regular-season game in Spain.

“We are thrilled to play the NFL’s inaugural game in Spain, a country of rich history, tradition and passion and home to a vibrant Dolphins fanbase,” said Tom Garfinkel, the Dolphins’ vice chairman, president and CEO.

The newly renovated Bernabéu is home to Real Madrid and features a retractable field for American football.

The date of the game and Miami’s opponent will be announced this spring.

The Dolphins and the Chicago Bears hold marketing rights in Spain as part of the league’s Global Markets Program, which allows teams to hold events and sign commercial deals in those locations.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

BOSTON — A gold medal awarded to the winner of the 110-meter hurdles at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, the first Games hosted on U.S. soil, is being auctioned off as part of hundreds of lots of memorabilia representing various Olympics over the decades.

The medal bears the inscription “Olympiad, 1904” and shows a victorious athlete holding a wreath on the front. On the other side, Nike, the goddess of victory in ancient Greek mythology, is shown alongside Zeus, the pantheon’s king of gods, and the words for the hurdles event it was awarded. The medal, awarded to American Fred Schule, includes the original ribbon and leather case.

This was the first Olympics where gold medals were awarded and the Americans took advantage, winning 78 of 96 events. Unlike Olympic medals these days which are mostly made of silver with gold plating, these were smaller and made entirely of gold.

Bobby Eaton, an Olympic specialist at Boston-based RR Auction, said it is unusual for a medal of this kind to come up for auction though this particular one came from Schule’s family’s collection.

“No one really knows exactly how many 1904 Olympic gold medals are still out there,” Eaton said. “What we do know is they’re exceedingly rare. Of the roughly 100 gold medals awarded in St. Louis, many have been lost to time or are tucked away in private collections and museums.”

Beyond the gold medals, the 1904 Games also were remembered for plenty of controversy and oddities.

The Games were originally awarded to Chicago, but organizers of the World’s Fair in St. Louis feared competition for attendance and protested against a second international event held simultaneously. Fair organizers threatened to host their own athletic events. It took the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, to forge peace by moving the Olympics 300 miles (483 kilometers) south.

If that drama weren’t enough, Fred Lorz looked to have won the marathon race until it was discovered he rode partway in a car.

Organizers ran “Anthropology Days,” when members of indigenous tribes from across the globe on hand for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the formal name of the St. Louis World’s Fair, were plucked from the fair and told to compete with no warning.

The Games also saw the debut of boxing and freestyle wrestling, sports that have clung to the Summer Olympics until the present day, along with long-since-forgotten croquet and tug-of-war events.

“These medals aren’t just about the competition — they’re a snapshot of the early days of the modern Olympics,” Eaton said. “To have one like this, in such exceptional condition, is truly remarkable and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for collectors.”

The sale is part of hundreds of Olympic items that were up for sale at the auction, including a bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as gold medals from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, 1964 Tokyo Olympics, 1998 Nagano Olympics and 2012 London Olympics.

Olympic memorabilia has long fetched a good price.

In 2022, the silver medal captured by Luz Long, the German long jumper who befriended Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, sold at auction for more than $488,000. A first-place silver medal awarded at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 sold for $180,111 when it was put up for auction in 2021 and a gold medal from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver sold for $68,750 in 2019.

Athletes also have auctioned off their medals for charity, including two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban from Ukraine whose two golds and a bronze were auctioned for $109,451 in 2022 to help the war effort. Swimmer Ryan Lochte auctioned off his six Olympic silver and bronze medals the same year, with the $166,779 raised going to an organization benefitting children. He kept his gold medals.

The next summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles in 2028, marking the third time the city has hosted the Games. It also hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.

FILE – Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) is honored for being first MLB player to achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a short playing career earned the moniker “Mr. Baseball” and honors from the Hall of Fame, has died

MILWAUKEE — Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a short playing career earned the moniker “Mr. Baseball” and honors from the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 90.

In a statement released by the Brewers, Uecker’s family said he had battled small cell lung cancer since early 2023.

“Even in the face of this challenge, his enthusiasm for life was always present, never allowing his spirit to falter,” the family’s statement said.

Uecker, who was born and raised in Milwaukee, signed his first pro contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the majors in 1962. He lasted six seasons in the big leagues, finishing with a .200 average and 14 homers.

But he was better known as a colorful comedian and broadcaster, receiving the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick award in 2003.

Uecker also had a successful career in movies and television. He was dubbed “Mr. Baseball” by Johnny Carson during one of his more than 100 appearances on Carson’s late night show.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB