More than two weeks after the Eagles’ Super Bowl win, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that an invitation for the team to head to the White House is imminent.
“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.
Trump’s statement comes days following a resurfaced, weeks-old report from the Sun.com going viral. In that report, which was published before the Birds’ Super Bowl win, a so-called “well-placed insider” asserted that the team would not accept an invitation from Trump, calling it a “massive no.”
A league source told The Inquirer Monday that the team actually planned to visit the White House, and “looks forward to receiving its invitation.”
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump had been rooting for the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and essentially ignored the Birds on social media following their win. He later acknowledged the team in an appearance on The Mark Levin Show, calling the Eagles’ performance “flawless football.”
“Even the first play, they called it back. It was a long pass, it was, you know, either a touchdown or going to be a touchdown,” Trump said. “They called it back, completed long pass, and they went on to get touchdown after touchdown. They really played great.”
After the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, the team was uninvited from the White House by Trump after several players said they planned to skip the visit.