WASHINGTON – President Trump reignited the NFL national anthem controversy Sunday with a Super Bowl statement honoring the Armed Forces.

“Their sacrifice is stitched into each star and every stripe of our Star-Spangled Banner,” Trump said in a statement. “We hold them in our hearts and thank them for our freedom as we proudly stand for the National Anthem.”

Trump declined the traditional presidential Super Bowl TV interview, but the White House issued a statement on the game that flared up politics. He and the First Lady hosted a Super Bowl watch party at the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Fla.

Throughout the season, Trump blasted NFL players who kneeled for the anthem to protest social injustices and called on team owners to suspend players who failed to stand.

Former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sparked the national debate when he started kneeling for the anthem to mourn unarmed black men killed by police. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick explained in 2016.

Trump characterized the growing protest by black athletes as a sign of disrespect for the military—which players said was not the intention.

Trump got his wish on Sunday. No players from the New England Patriots or Philadelphia Eagles were spotted kneeling or sitting during Pink’s singing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”