The Philadelphia Eagles could land at the White House after all

Seven years after the Philadelphia Eagles last won the Super Bowl, the team – which did not celebrate at the White House during President Donald Trump’s first term following its 2018 victory – is once again at the center of a will-they-or-won’t-they debate following their Super Bowl LIX triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs. 

After a U.S. Sun report resurfaced earlier this week asserting that the Eagles would decline to go to the White House following their win, backtracking and backlash followed as both White House and National Football League sources offered differing accounts. 

The conflicting reports resulted in responses from both the White House and the league, with Trump addressing the matter directly Tuesday. 

“I thought it was a great performance by them — they’ll be extended that invitation,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office Tuesday. He then asked a staffer to send the team an invitation “right away,” and said the invitation would be issued “sometime today.”

“They deserve to be down here, and we hope to see them,” Trump added.

How we got here

While the team has yet to put out an official statement, a U.S. Sun story resurfaced Sunday stating that an anonymous source with the team indicated that “conversations about refusing a visit with President Donald Trump after beating the Kansas City Chiefs have already occurred.” 

The Sun report – which has been disproven – claimed that the team's overwhelming response was a “massive no” when asked if they would accept an invitation to the White House this time around. 

Trump, who became the first sitting president to attend the big game when he showed up for this year’s tilt, left the Eagles out of his social media posts following the conference championships: The president congratulated the Chiefs but failed to mention the Eagles. Trump, seemingly rooting for the Chiefs, met and shook hands with some players on the field prior to the game.

Prior to the Super Bowl, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie declined to comment on whether the team would visit the White House should they win, saying he was focused on the game and “just want to win.” 

A White House official said Monday that no invitation had been formally extended to the Eagles yet. Meanwhile, a league source confirmed reports that the team is actually planning to visit the White House and “looks forward to receiving its invitation.” And according to Axios, another source claimed the Eagles are “definitely talking about coming” to the White House and that “there’s been no rejection.”

Presidential tradition

The tradition of championship-winning teams visiting the White House was started by the 39th President of the U.S., Jimmy Carter. Since then, most Super Bowl winners have made the trip to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

But during Trump’s first term, the tradition took a hit as players in the NBA, NFL and beyond spoke out against his policies, while national anthem protests related to structural racism sparked controversy. Trump made headlines in 2017 when he uninvited the Golden State Warriors after Steph Curry and his teammates made it clear they weren’t interested in meeting the president. 

The feud intensified soon after when then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem as a form of protest. Trump quickly became one of the most vocal critics of the protests, calling any athlete that kneeled a “son of a bitch” and saying they should be fired. 

The Eagles declined to visit Trump and the White House following the franchise’s first Super Bowl win in 2018. After it was announced in June 2018 that a large group of players had decided not to attend, Trump posted on social media that the event with the team was “canceled” after only a small number of players opted to accept the invitation. 

At the time, Trump said: “They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.” However, according to the Associated Press news agency, no players from the Eagles team knelt during the anthem in 2017 or remained in their locker room. And only one of the four Super Bowl-winning teams during Trump’s first term wound up visiting the White House. 

The NHL Champion Florida Panthers were the first team to visit Trump during his second term on Feb. 3. As of Wednesday morning, there is no formal word on whether the team would formally accept a trip to the White House.