TRUMP TWEETS IN

President wants suspensions

President Donald Trump is once again inserting himself into the culture war over protests by NFL athletes during the national anthem.

Trump tweeted Friday that he “can’t believe” the debate has reignited after The Associated Press reported on the Miami Dolphins formally telling players they could be punished for protesting on the field. The NFL and NFL Players Association said in a joint statement Thursday night they were halting enforcement of all anthem rules while they work out a solution.

“Isn’t it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand,” Trump tweeted, referring to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

No such requirement exists, but NFL owners voted in May to require players who wish to protest to remain in the locker room during “The StarSpangled Banner.”

Trump is proposing his own penalties, calling on Goodell to “take a stand.”

Trump tweets: “First time kneeling, out for game. Second time kneeling, out for season/no pay!”

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said he hadn’t decided whether to actually discipline players who protest during the national anthem when he formally told the team that the demonstrations could be punishable.

“We were asked to submit a form to the NFL on our overall discipline policy prior to the start of the rookie report date,” Ross said in a statement Friday, explaining why a onesentence reference to “Proper Anthem Conduct” was included in the team’s official discipline policy. “The one line sentence related to the national anthem was a placeholder as we haven’t made a decision on what we would do, if anything, at that point.”

Miami’s policy was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press and listed anthem conduct under behavior that could be found “detrimental to the club.” It was the final bullet point on Miami’s list.

The list contains a wide range of potential violations, including criminal acts, breaking curfew, using or possessing drugs, riding a motorcycle, visiting public places declared offlimits by the club and inappropriate use of tablets and mobile devices. It also says players can be punished for criticizing teammates, officials or NFL executives.

All of the violations carry potential penalties of suspension with or without pay, or fines. The maximum penalty — rarely given by clubs themselves — is a fourgame suspension and a fine of another week of pay.