Exclusive: Eagles accept Donald Trump’s invitation for White House visit to celebrate Super Bowl win….Read More

The Philadelphia Eagles are planning to visit the White House on April 28 to celebrate their Super Bowl LIX win, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday.

“I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn’t sent or was sent. We want to correct the record: We sent an invitation. They enthusiastically accepted, and you will see them here on April 28,” Leavitt said at the daily White House briefing.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Feb. 25 that an invitation to visit would be extended to the team, saying, “I thought it was a great performance by them.”

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

It marks a shift in tone from 2018, when the Eagles did not visit the White House after winning their first Super Bowl; Trump, then in his first term in office, canceled that visit, saying in a statement at the time that some team members disagreed with his view that they “proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart.” The team, however, did not confirm that as a reason for the cancelation at the time, following reports that the Eagles planned to send only a small contingent for the visit

The topic of sports teams visiting the White House was often fraught during Trump’s first term. The Golden State Warriors decided not to visit the White House after winning the NBA championship in 2017 (Trump subsequently tweeted that the invitation was withdrawn). The Warriors were also not invited for a visit when they won another championship in 2018, but they visited the White House to celebrate their 2022 championship during Joe Biden’s presidency.

The Florida Panthers visited Trump at the White House in February to celebrate their 2024 Stanley Cup championship. Other teams also met with Trump at the White House for championship celebrations in prior years, including the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and Clemson’s football team, among others.

This year, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to attend a Super Bowl — a 40-22 Eagles victory over the Chiefs to end Kansas City’s three-peat bid. In a pregame interview on Fox, Trump predicted the Chiefs would win the championship and praised quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany Mahomes. In that interview, Trump also said the Eagles have a “great quarterback” and called 2024 Offensive Player of the Year Saquon Barkley “a great running back.”

The Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory in February marked the franchise’s second-ever Super Bowl win in five total championship appearances.