President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE attended the annual Army-Navy football game Saturday and officiated the pre-match coin toss on the field flanked by top military officials.

The president, who missed last year's game after attending the event in 2016 as the president-elect, was joined on-field by top members of the military including Defense Secretary James Mattis James Norman MattisBiden courts veterans amid fallout from Trump military controversies Trump says he wanted to take out Syria's Assad but Mattis opposed it Gary Cohn: 'I haven't made up my mind' on vote for president in November MORE, who watched as a smiling Trump tossed the coin following a moment of silence for former President George H.W. Bush.

The annual football game between the Naval Academy in Annapolis and the Military Academy at West Point is a major tradition dating back to 1890 that has been attended by multiple former presidents.

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Trump was joined for Saturday's game by a delegation of top military brass and members of the White House, including the secretaries of the Army, Navy, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Michael (Mike) Richard PompeoOvernight Defense: Pentagon redirects pandemic funding to defense contractors | US planning for full Afghanistan withdrawal by May | Anti-Trump GOP group puts ads in military papers Overnight Defense: House Democrats unveil stopgap spending measure to GOP opposition | Bill includes .6B for new subs | Trump issues Iran sanctions after world shrugs at US action at UN Navalny calls on Russia to return clothes he was wearing when he fell ill MORE and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith ZinkeTrump extends Florida offshore drilling pause, expands it to Georgia, South Carolina Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention Trump flails as audience dwindles and ratings plummet MORE.

The president joked in 2016 that while the two teams were not the top college football teams in the country, he enjoyed watching the "spirit" of the two academies in competition.

"I mean, I don't know if it's necessarily the best football, but it's very good," Trump told sportscasters during a pre-game interview in 2016.

"But boy do they have spirit, more than anybody, it's beautiful," he added.

According to pool reports, Trump is expected to divide his time at the game evenly between the Army and Navy sides of the stadium, following the practice he employed in 2016.