US president Donald Trump has tipped the New England Patriots to beat the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl on Monday night.
Trump, reeling from a series of political defeats and facing increasing pressure from the Mueller probe, gave an interview to CBS ahead of the network's coverage of the NFL's annual showpiece event.
The owners of both Super Bowl participants, Robert Kraft of the Patriots and Stan Kroenke of the Rams, both donated generously to Trump's presidential campaign but the 45th president of the United States prioritised his long-time personal friendship with Kraft when making his prediction.
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"They have a very special owner and coach, and certainly they have, I guess, the greatest quarterback of all time," Trump said in an interview with 'Face the Nation', referring to Kraft, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, respectively.
1/10 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – 2008
No frills, just good old-fashioned rock and roll. Tom Petty's performance is often omitted from rankings of the best Super Bowl halftime shows, but we're including it here because he absolutely crushed it. Kicking things off with "American Girl", he followed it up with "Won't Back Down", "Full Moon Fever" and the emotional "Free Fallin'", rounding off with a stirring rendition of "Runnin' Down a Dream".
AFP/Getty Images
2/10 U2 – 2002
U2 had the unenviable task of trying to raise everyone's spirits just six months after the 9/11 attacks, but they did an admirable job, with performances of uplifting tracks like "Beautiful Day".
AFP/Getty Images
3/10 Paul McCartney – 2005
McCartney preceded the pop stars trying to outdo one another with extravagant stage designs and lavish costumes. Instead, he offered four beautifully played songs, of which the final one, "Hey Jude", prompted an epic singalong with the crowd at Jacksonville's EverBank Field Stadium.
AFP/Getty Images
4/10 Madonna – 2012
One of the few to outdo Katy Perry's 2015 entrance was Madonna, three years earlier, who appeared on a giant golden chariot led by about a hundred buff men dressed as Roman soldiers. She brought out Nicki Minaj and MIA for "Give Me All Your Luvin'" and also performed hits "Like a Prayer", "Music" and "Express Yourself".
AFP/Getty Images
5/10 Katy Perry – 2015
There are few entrances as grand as standing on top of a giant golden lion with glowing eyes. Katy Perry went all out for her halftime show in 2015 with performances of "Roar", "Dark Horse", "California Gurls", "Firework" and "Teenage Dream". And who can forget the notorious Left Shark and his poor coordination?
Getty Images
6/10 Bruce Springsteen – 2009
"Put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up," the Boss ordered. Springsteen's 12-minute set started out with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and also included "Born to Run", "Glory Days" and "Working on a Dream".
Getty Images
7/10 Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake – 2004
Janet Jackson delivered a blistering, brilliantly choreographed show that ended with "Rock Your Body". But the moment Justin Timberlake ripped away her costume, and exposed her breast for approximately half a second, overshadowed all of that. The incident, dubbed "nipplegate", even inspired the creation of YouTube. Jackson was turned into a scapegoat for the ensuing controversy, while Timberlake didn't receive anywhere near as much scrutiny.
AFP/Getty Images
8/10 Lady Gaga – 2017
One of the most outlandish halftime shows in recent memory, Lady Gaga began her performance by hurtling herself from the top of the stadium (attached to a harness, of course) – sparking a thousand memes. Once safely on the ground, she thrilled audiences with her biggest hits: "Poker Face", "Born This Way", "Telephone", "Just Dance", "Million Reasons" and "Bad Romance".
Getty Images
9/10 Beyonce – 2013
Beyonce basically ties with Prince for the greatest all-time Super Bowl performance. It was bold, it was fierce, it was virtually flawless. Bursting onto the stage with "Crazy in Love" after an a capella "Love on Top", she threw down some of her best dance moves, before moving on to other hits including "End of Time" and "Baby Boy". Lastly, there was a hysteria-inducing Destiny's Child reunion with Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland – a performance so powerful, the lights at the stadium cut out when it ended.
Getty
10/10 Prince – 2007
The greatest. Of course, the Purple One wasn't responsible for the rain that began to pour during his hair-raising 12-minute performance, which included covers of "We Will Rock You" and "All Along the Watchtower". But the timing was so perfect, you wanted to believe he was. Following renditions of "1999/Baby I'm a Star", Prince closed on "Purple Rain" in what has to be ranked among one of his greatest live performances of that song.
Getty Images
1/10 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – 2008
No frills, just good old-fashioned rock and roll. Tom Petty's performance is often omitted from rankings of the best Super Bowl halftime shows, but we're including it here because he absolutely crushed it. Kicking things off with "American Girl", he followed it up with "Won't Back Down", "Full Moon Fever" and the emotional "Free Fallin'", rounding off with a stirring rendition of "Runnin' Down a Dream".
AFP/Getty Images
2/10 U2 – 2002
U2 had the unenviable task of trying to raise everyone's spirits just six months after the 9/11 attacks, but they did an admirable job, with performances of uplifting tracks like "Beautiful Day".
AFP/Getty Images
3/10 Paul McCartney – 2005
McCartney preceded the pop stars trying to outdo one another with extravagant stage designs and lavish costumes. Instead, he offered four beautifully played songs, of which the final one, "Hey Jude", prompted an epic singalong with the crowd at Jacksonville's EverBank Field Stadium.
AFP/Getty Images
4/10 Madonna – 2012
One of the few to outdo Katy Perry's 2015 entrance was Madonna, three years earlier, who appeared on a giant golden chariot led by about a hundred buff men dressed as Roman soldiers. She brought out Nicki Minaj and MIA for "Give Me All Your Luvin'" and also performed hits "Like a Prayer", "Music" and "Express Yourself".
AFP/Getty Images
5/10 Katy Perry – 2015
There are few entrances as grand as standing on top of a giant golden lion with glowing eyes. Katy Perry went all out for her halftime show in 2015 with performances of "Roar", "Dark Horse", "California Gurls", "Firework" and "Teenage Dream". And who can forget the notorious Left Shark and his poor coordination?
Getty Images
6/10 Bruce Springsteen – 2009
"Put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up," the Boss ordered. Springsteen's 12-minute set started out with "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and also included "Born to Run", "Glory Days" and "Working on a Dream".
Getty Images
7/10 Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake – 2004
Janet Jackson delivered a blistering, brilliantly choreographed show that ended with "Rock Your Body". But the moment Justin Timberlake ripped away her costume, and exposed her breast for approximately half a second, overshadowed all of that. The incident, dubbed "nipplegate", even inspired the creation of YouTube. Jackson was turned into a scapegoat for the ensuing controversy, while Timberlake didn't receive anywhere near as much scrutiny.
AFP/Getty Images
8/10 Lady Gaga – 2017
One of the most outlandish halftime shows in recent memory, Lady Gaga began her performance by hurtling herself from the top of the stadium (attached to a harness, of course) – sparking a thousand memes. Once safely on the ground, she thrilled audiences with her biggest hits: "Poker Face", "Born This Way", "Telephone", "Just Dance", "Million Reasons" and "Bad Romance".
Getty Images
9/10 Beyonce – 2013
Beyonce basically ties with Prince for the greatest all-time Super Bowl performance. It was bold, it was fierce, it was virtually flawless. Bursting onto the stage with "Crazy in Love" after an a capella "Love on Top", she threw down some of her best dance moves, before moving on to other hits including "End of Time" and "Baby Boy". Lastly, there was a hysteria-inducing Destiny's Child reunion with Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland – a performance so powerful, the lights at the stadium cut out when it ended.
Getty
10/10 Prince – 2007
The greatest. Of course, the Purple One wasn't responsible for the rain that began to pour during his hair-raising 12-minute performance, which included covers of "We Will Rock You" and "All Along the Watchtower". But the timing was so perfect, you wanted to believe he was. Following renditions of "1999/Baby I'm a Star", Prince closed on "Purple Rain" in what has to be ranked among one of his greatest live performances of that song.
Getty Images
"So I would say they would win," he added. "As the expression goes, who knows. I hope it's a great game."
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Trump will watch Sunday night's game from a party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
The Patriots were the first professional sports team to visit Trump at the White House after the team won the Super Bowl in 2017.
"People love to come to the White House," Trump said in Sunday's interview. "So the Patriots were here two years ago, and I'm sure they'll be back."
Last year's winners the Philadelphia Eagles infamously had their invitation to the Oval Office withdrawn after a number of players made it cleaer they would not attend. The Golden State Warriors similarly decided against attending after winning the NBA Championship Finals last year.
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