American football officials and players held talks yesterday about the ongoing protest and issued a joint statement stressing their focus remained on “facilitating change in society” and would not be changing their stance.
A furious Mr Trump took to Twitter today to denounce their decision.
He fumed: “The NFL has decided that it will not force players to stand for the playing of our National Anthem.
“Total disrespect for our great country!”
Several high-profile NFL stars are involved in the campaign against inequality in the US and kneel down on one knee as the Star Spangled Banner is played before every match.
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Mr Trump has made the protests, which are known as “taking a knee”, a central part of his nationalist rhetoric in recent weeks as he tries to portray equality campaigners as an anti-patriotic.
He even ordered vice-president Mike Pence to leave the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers early after players knelt for the anthem.
But the heavily choreographed walk-out was quickly derided as a ham-fisted publicity stunt which backfired.
Meetings between the league owners and players yesterday were described as extremely productive.
A joint statement from the NFL and the players’ association (NFLPA) said: “Today owners and players had a productive meeting focused on how we can work together to promote positive social change and address inequality in our communities.
“NFL executives and owners joined NFLPA executives and player leaders to review and discuss plans to utilise our platform to promote equality and effectuate positive change.
“We agreed that these are common issues and pledged to meet again to continue this work together.
“As we said last week, everyone who is part of our NFL community has a tremendous respect for our country, our flag, our anthem and our military.
“In the best American tradition, we are coming together to find common ground and commit to the hard work required for positive change.”
Mr Trump has already described the players’ equality protests as an insult to the flag and war veterans who fought for their country. The NFL released a statement last week saying it would not enforce standing during the anthem.
Only one of the league’s 32 owners – Dallas Cowboys chief and Trump campaign donor Jerry Jones – has threatened to sanction players for ‘taking a knee’.
Jed York, the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank both said they do not fear the president’s reaction and will continue to go about their business.