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Trump will handle coin toss for Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia

It will be the 88th time the teams from West Point and Annapolis face off in Philadelphia.

In this file photo from Dec. 10, 2016, file photo, then President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges spectators during the first half of the Army-Navy football game in Baltimore.
In this file photo from Dec. 10, 2016, file photo, then President-elect Donald Trump acknowledges spectators during the first half of the Army-Navy football game in Baltimore.Read morePatrick Semansky / AP

President Trump is coming to Philadelphia on Saturday for the Army-Navy Football Game at Lincoln Financial Field.

The game starts at 3 p.m. and Trump will handle the coin toss for the 119th match-up in the rivalry between the two military academies, West Point announced Friday.

Trump, who attended the game in 2016 after he was elected, will be the first sitting president to show up for the gridiron classic since 2011, when President Barack Obama sat in the stands at FedEx Field in Washington, which hosted that year’s contest.

At least one group, Refuse Facism, is calling for a protest Saturday, but it is unclear how many people will show up.

Motorists should expect I-95 to be closed between Philadelphia International Airport and the Linc for the presidential motorcade before and after the game.

SEPTA said it would add extra service on the Broad Street Line and would run 10 Sports Express trains from the Fern Rock Transportation Center starting at 9:05 a.m. and ending at 12:45 p.m.

On Friday, Trump, who often creates drama by teasing his decisions, told reporters at the White House that he planned to make an announcement at the game, the 88th time the teams from Annapolis and West Point have faced off in Philadelphia.

“I can give you a little hint: It will have to do with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and succession," he said.

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began his second two-year term in the post in September 2017. The Washington Post reported that Gen. Mark Milley will be nominated to succeed him.

Navy leads the series by 60–51–7. Army has won the last two games after having lost 14 in a row.