The Trump administration said Tuesday that the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles "enthusiastically accepted" an invitation to visit the White House on April 28.
The Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX, attended by President Donald Trump, in New Orleans last month. Trump announced two weeks later that the Eagles will visit the White House, and now it's official.
"I can confirm that the Philadelphia Eagles will be here at the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl victory," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesday's daily briefing. "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."
This was the Eagles' second Super Bowl victory but first trip to the White House. Trump withdrew an invitation to the team in 2018 after it defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII. ESPN reported at the time that five or fewer players committed to going to the White House, so Trump retracted the invitation.
"The Philadelphia Eagles Football Team was invited to the White House. Unfortunately, only a small number of players decided to come, and we canceled the event," he wrote in a post on Twitter on June 4, 2018.
The White House instead held "A Celebration of America" event at the White House.
Trump's attendance at last month's Super Bowl marked the first time that a sitting president attended the game. He told reporters on Feb. 26 that the invitation to the team hadn't gone out yet but that they would be invited.
"They will be [invited], we haven't yet, but we will be. I thought it was a great performance by them and absolutely they'll be extended an invitation. ... We'll do it right away, we're going to do it sometime today. They deserve to be down here and we hope to see them," he said.
The tradition of championship sports teams visiting the White House began at least in 1865 when President Andrew Johnson welcomed amateur baseball teams the Brooklyn Atlantics and Washington Nationals to the White House.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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