--- title: Trump: Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad a 'Terrible Message' description: President Trump called Nike's latest ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick a "terrible message" canonical: https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-04T22:43:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:13.031Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Says Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Sends a 'Terrible Message' og:description: Nike featured Kaepernick in its new 'Just Do It' campaign og:url: https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Says Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Sends a 'Terrible Message' twitter:description: Nike featured Kaepernick in its new 'Just Do It' campaign twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # President Trump Says Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Sends a 'Terrible Message' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Colin Kaepernick Becomes Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary 'Just Do It' Campaign [Watch (HLS stream): Colin Kaepernick Becomes Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary 'Just Do It' Campaign](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lWYRDd5m.m3u8) (0:43)  _Published 2018-09-04. Colin Kaepernick will be the face of Nike's 30th anniversary "Just Do It” campaign, reports ESPN's Darren Rovell._ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 4, 2018 10:43 PM UTC by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Sep 4, 2018 10:43 PM UTC President Donald Trump said Nike‘s decision to feature Colin Kaepernick as the face of its new “Just Do It” ad campaign sends a “terrible message.” “I think it’s a terrible message,” Trump told conservative news site [The Daily Caller](https://dailycaller.com/2018/09/04/trump-interview-nike-kaepernick-deal/). “Nike is a tenant of mine. They pay a lot of rent.” Trump was referring to Niketown, Nike’s current flagship store in New York City. The company previously announced plans to [close down the location](http://fortune.com/2017/12/04/nike-will-close-its-flagship-nyc-store-in-spring-new-one-coming-in-2019/) and open a different flagship store in the city. Trump also added: “In another way, it is what this country is all about, that you have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn’t do, but I personally am on a different side of it.” Trump’s comments on Tuesday come after Nike revealed Kaepernick in its [new “Just Do It” campaign](http://time.com/5383428/colin-kaepernick-collusion-nfl-trial/). Kaepernick, who became the symbol of NFL protests after kneeling during the national anthem two years ago, tweeted an image from the campaign with the slogan, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” on Monday. > [](https://twitter.com/Kaepernick7/status/1036695513251434498) Kaepernick is not currently signed with any NFL team and has filed a grievance claiming the league’s owners [conspired to keep him out of the league](http://time.com/5383428/colin-kaepernick-collusion-nfl-trial/) because of his protests. His kneeling during the National Anthem in protest of police brutality and racial injustice sparked a wave of protests from several other NFL players. Some players have knelt during the anthem, others have held up a first – commonly considered a symbol of black power. The NFL protests have become a polarizing topic, with Trump repeatedly speaking out against players who kneel during the national anthem, including calling for them to be fired. He has also [feuded with Kaepernick](http://time.com/4707742/president-trump-colin-kaepernick/), claiming that the NFL’s declining ratings were due to the quarterback’s kneeling protests. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/"},"headline":"President Trump Says Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Sends a 'Terrible Message'","datePublished":"2018-09-04T22:43:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:13.031Z","description":"Nike featured Kaepernick in its new 'Just Do It' campaign","url":"https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/","name":"President Trump Says Nike's Colin Kaepernick Ad Sends a 'Terrible Message'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Colin Kaepernick Becomes Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary 'Just Do It' Campaign","description":"Colin Kaepernick will be the face of Nike's 30th anniversary \"Just Do It” campaign, reports ESPN's Darren Rovell.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lWYRDd5m/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-09-04T12:42:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lWYRDd5m.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5386743/donald-trump-kaepernick-nike-ad/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```