President Donald Trump welcomed Lionel Messi and Inter Miami to the White House on Thursday to celebrate the team’s 2025 MLS Cup title but began with a lengthy discourse on the ongoing Iran conflict.
After the Inter Miami squad took the stage, Trump entered the White House’s East Room flanked by Messi and club owner Jorge Mas, coming after an eventful day on the political front that saw him oust Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem from her position.
“We like champions, we like winners,” Trump said, before speaking for several minutes about the military situation while the Miami group stood behind him on stage.
“The U.S. military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule,” Trump added. “We are destroying more of Iran’s missiles and drone capability every single hour … We want to fight now more than they do. We’ve had 47 years, depending on the way you count it, 47 years of horror with this group.”
The occasion evoked memories of the awkwardness of Serie A side Juventus’ White House visit during last summer’s Club World Cup, where U.S. internationals Tim Weah and Weston McKennie were in attendance.
Inter Miami was being celebrated for its 2025 MLS Cup win. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Getty Images)
Eventually, Trump turned to discussing Miami’s visit, revealing that his son Barron had met Messi earlier in the day. Miami won its first MLS Cup by defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps in December.
Trump compared Messi to Brazilian legend Pelé, asking those in attendance which of the all-time greats were better, injecting an anecdote about watching Pelé for the New York Cosmos in the 1970s.
The president highlighted various contributions from Miami’s successful season, including those of Messi, Luis Suarez’s performance during the Club World Cup, young forward Tadeo Allende’s playoff scoring streak, while lauding goalkeeper Oscar Ustari and playmaker Rodrigo de Paul.
There was still room for interspersed political rhetoric, however, as Trump raised the topic of tariffs, relations with Cuba, plus his friendship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and ticket sales for this summer’s World Cup.
Lionel Messi presenting President Trump with a signed ball. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / Getty Images)
Trump started a running gag about how good looking the Miami squad was, making De Paul blush. “Do you have any bad looking players? I like the bad looking players much better,” Trump joked.
Co-owner David Beckham was apparently absent, while Mas presented Trump with one of the club’s iconic pink jerseys, complete with the number 47 to recognize his presidency. Messi then gave him a signed ball while Mass added a limited edition watch to the haul of gifts.
As the event closed, Trump extended an invitation to the Inter Miami to join him in the Oval Office, describing it as the “center of the world … especially now.”
The team is in the area to play DC United in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday.