Evan Vucci/AP Trump tweets he spoke with Dallas Cowboys owner: 'Players will stand for country'

President Donald Trump said he spoke Tuesday to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, continuing his campaign against NFL players who kneel in protest during the national anthem and predicting that “players will stand for country.”

Jones, who donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, joined his team Monday night in taking a knee on the field before the national anthem and then standing with linked arms during it. The Cowboys owner had previously spoken critically of players who knelt during the national anthem and took pride that nobody from his team had previously done so.


“Spoke to Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Jerry is a winner who knows how to get things done. Players will stand for Country!” Trump wrote online Wednesday morning.

The president’s tirade against NFL players kneeling during the national anthem began last Friday, when Trump told a crowd “wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘get that son of a bitch off the field right now — he’s fired.’” He continued to harp on the issue throughout the weekend and into this week, posting to Twitter about it daily and addressing the issue during a Tuesday news conference.

But Trump’s attention to the issue seemed only to spark more protests by NFL players, many of whom knelt, stood with locked arms or remained in their locker rooms altogether during the national anthem last Sunday. Multiple NFL owners, including some who, like Jones, had supported Trump, joined their players in protests.

