May 5 (UPI) — In honor of National Physical Fitness and Sports Month, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a proclamation announcing the revival of the Presidential Fitness Test, an annual physical fitness trial for schoolchildren.
“Sports and fitness are woven into the fabric of American identity, and the greatness that defines our Nation is forged only through hardwork, sweat and an unrelenting demand for success,” Trump said in the proclamation. “Physical dedication sharpens the mind, steels the will and produces the kind of character that Americans carry into every aspect of their lives.”
Trump signed the initial executive order to bring back the test in August 2025, calling it a pillar of American youth.
The Presidential Fitness Test Award started in the 1950s. Its challenges adapted and changed over the years — in 1985, they included a certain amount of sit-ups and pull-ups, a shuttle run and one-mile run in a certain time frame and a stretch to test flexibility, Yahoo News reported — before it was retired in 2012 amidst concerns about its effectiveness, one-size-fits-all approach and the risk of bullying because of the public nature of the test.
The Trump administration has not yet announced the content of the new test.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks behind President Donald Trump ahead of a proclamation signing Tuesday inside the Oval Office at The White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Tom Brenner/UPI
“My administration is working very hard to defend America’s cherished athletic traditions and pass our values of excellence and competitiveness to the next generation,” the president said during a ceremony Tuesday in the Oval Office.
Another president who championed the test was John F. Kennedy, who discussed it in a 1960 article. On Tuesday, Kennedy’s nephew Robert Kennedy Jr., now the U.S. secretary of health and human services, lauded Trump’s proclamation at the ceremony and on social media.
President Donald Trump signs a proclamation Tuesday inside the Oval Office at The White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Tom Brenner/UPI
“I’m so grateful to @POTUS for his leadership and his vision of reinstituting the Physical Fitness Test … helping people get in shape so that we can prepare for a great future that this administration is going to provide for this country,” Kennedy said.