How Eagles’ White House plans sparked controversy after 2018 decision turned ugly

A resurfaced report about the Eagles’ plans for a potential White House visit has ignited passion about the topic, even though it would appear that an invite hasn’t even been extended yet following the team’s Super Bowl 2025 win over the Chiefs this month. 

The topic bubbled back to the surface this weekend after a pair of social media posts by the widely followed football accounts, @NFL_DovKleiman and @PHLEaglesNation, aggregated a Feb. 6 report from the U.S. Sun that it was a “massive no” for the Eagles to go visit the White House if they won the Super Bowl. 

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The posts went viral and the reactions came in swift from people across the sports and political spectrum, with pundit Megyn Kelly even weighing in on X, writing, “GO F YOURSELVES EAGLES.”

However, the outrage may be for naught. 

While the Eagles and the White House have not publicly commented about the resurfaced report, Outkick’s Clay Travis cited a White House source that labeled the report as “fake news.” 

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“The Philadelphia Eagles have not rejected a White House invite,” Travis posted on X. “The reports that have gone viral on social media are fake news. The White House has not even sent the official invite to the Eagles yet.”

The controversy surrounding whether teams visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue following championship wins had largely gone away after President Donald Trump left office in 2021, and even after he took office for his second term in January. 

The Florida Panthers became the first pro team to visit the White House since Trump began his second term to celebrate their 2024 Stanley Cup victory. 

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But the Eagles made waves back in 2018 when several players said they wouldn’t attend the White House ceremony due to Trump’s position and comments over players who had protested during the national anthem. 

The plan then had been to send a smaller contingent of players for the ceremony, but the visit was eventually canceled. 

In a statement from the White House at the time, the situation had been described as the Eagles players disagreeing “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.”

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It’s unclear if President Trump has moved past the Eagles’ 2018 snubbing, while only four players from that Super Bowl roster remain with the Eagles.

Trump did highlight the impressiveness of both Super Bowl teams during a recent interview with Fox News’ Brett Baier before the big game.

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“I’m a big fan of both teams. They’re sort of different,” Trump said in the sitdown. “In Philadelphia, [they] have one of the greatest running backs, Saquon [Barkley]. You know, Saquon had an uncle. Was a great fighter, great fighter — Iran Barkley his name was. You have a great running back. You really have a great quarterback. The other team, the quarterback really knows how to win. He is a great, great quarterback.”

Trump became the first sitting President to attend the Super Bowl this year in New Orleans.

The President and his entourage left the game at halftime when Philadelphia held a 24-0 lead over the Chiefs.

Philadelphia eventually topped Kansas City, 40-22.