Ohio In My Heart

I just got back from Ohio, where I had the experience of a lifetime. My journey started out in Alliance at Pizza Hut, a very special place they call Pizza Hut Classic. Most of us remember the red-roofed Pizza Huts with the red-checkered tablecloths, the red cups, the classic video games, those stained-glass light fixtures—the works. It’s Pizza Hut the way it is supposed to be, but it is much more than just a fun restaurant.

The traditional Pizza Huts represent something unique and fun about America. They are places where memories are made. They are places that connect us with our own cultural legacy; they are places that are familiar yet timeless, places that make you feel good, and that is what we need much more of.

A lot of people ask me what it will take to get more people out of the house in an age of social media, DoorDash, and GTA. Well, this is your answer. Revive the places we have always loved, because we never fell out of love with them. The absence of places like this in so many cities has only made our love grow fonder. This is a place that represents our national pride, our personal innocence, and the memories that no money can buy. I would say more, but let’s all get a classic pan pizza, play some Pac-Man, and have the time of our lives.

For years, I have said that our streets need to be revived, not with alien architecture, let alone more bland gray boxes. They need more American classics: from red-roofed Pizza Huts with their distinctive trapezoidal windows and cozy, cabin-like interiors, to McDonald’s that actually look the way they used to, complete with the soaring golden arches, red-and-white tile, and those cheerful sloped roofs that once lit up the night.

Bring back the bright orange roofs of Howard Johnson’s, the playful neon A&W root beer mugs, and the old Dairy Queen signs with their soft-serve swirls glowing against the sky. Restore the Googie-style coffee shops with their wide windows and space-age angles that made every roadside stop feel like a miniature adventure.

This is how we make going out great again! In Alliance, Ohio, it’s already happening.

The next day, I visited one of the most special places on Earth: the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. This is a place that everyone in America and the world needs to visit. Walking among the bronze busts of football legends makes you consider the unseen efforts, the thankless hard work, and the once-unheralded, God-given talent that all combine to make a man into a hero and a legend.

Football values are American values: grit, perseverance, meritocracy, and hard work. The Pro Football Hall of Fame celebrates the very best of the American spirit: competition, toughness, excellence, and the relentless pursuit of winning.

I discussed the enormous tourism opportunities presented by the growing international popularity of the sport.

As football’s popularity grows across the globe, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will become even more of an international destination, drawing visitors from every corner of the world. There is only one Pro Football Hall of Fame, and there is only one United States of America. If you love football, Canton, Ohio belongs on your bucket list.

This is exactly the kind of uniquely American destination that can help strengthen the United States’ position as the world’s premier tourism destination.

President Trump and our entire administration understand that America has the greatest sports, the greatest attractions, and the greatest culture in the world. We invite the rest of the world to come to America to experience it.

Walking through those hallowed halls, I recall the words of the great John Madden, who once suggested that at night, when everyone has left, the busts start talking to one another about the glory of championships past. They ought to make a movie about that concept!

As the start of another football season is upon us, let us consider how this amazing sport is a metaphor for so much in life. It is where strategy and intellect meet strength and athleticism. You are not only up against the other 11 men, but up against the clock. It is a game of inches in pursuit of the first down needed to keep your team alive. It is where math meets tactics: “If I go for three now, will there be time to get those seven other points I’ll need to take the lead?

In Canton, all of this comes to life in a vivid, interactive, and deeply inspirational setting that is too special not to see in person.