WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump feted the 2025 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at the White House on Monday, but several players, including quarterback Jalen Hurts, decided to skip the celebration.
Hurts and other players cited scheduling conflicts as the reasons for their absences, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Still, Trump called Hurts a “terrific guy and terrific player” who turned in “one stellar performance after another” in helping the Eagles to a 14-3 regular season and their Super Bowl run.
“The Eagles have turned out to be an incredible team, an incredible group,” Trump said.
In his first term, Trump invited and then canceled a celebration for the Eagles in 2018 after the franchise’s first Super Bowl title. He instead threw his own brief “Celebration of America” after it became clear most players weren’t going to show up.
Asked by a reporter on the red carpet of the Time magazine gala last week whether he would take part in the White House visit, Hurts responded with an awkward “um” and long silence before walking away.
Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley visited Trump over the weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and caught a ride with the president to Washington on Air Force One and then to the White House on Marine One.
“He loved it,” Trump said of Barkley’s short flight on the presidential airplane. “He’s a great young guy and an incredible football player. Saquon had a season for the ages, running behind the most powerful offensive line in the NFL,” Trump said.
Barkley, meanwhile, pushed back on social media criticism earlier Monday for spending time with Trump. He noted that he has golfed with former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
“Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand,” Barkley posted on X.
Barkley ran away with the Offensive Player of the Year award this past season after rushing for 2,005 yards, eighth-best in NFL history. It was his first season with the Eagles.
Trump attended the Eagles’ decisive Super Bowl victory in New Orleans over the Kansas City Chiefs. He predicted ahead of the game the Chiefs would win, and offered lavish praise for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
After the game, Trump mocked pop star Taylor Swift, who is dating Mahomes’ teammate Travis Kelce. Swift faced boos from some fans at one point during the game when she appeared on the Jumbotron.
Swift had endorsed Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election.
“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump made a nod to the moment at Monday’s ceremony.
“I watched in person, I was there along with Taylor Swift,” Trump said. “How did that work out?”
