Argentina's superstar Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates were feted by US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday in honour of their 2025 MLS Cup championship.
Messi was at the forefront as Miami players, coach Javier Mascherano and team co-owner Jorge Más flanked Trump, who opened proceedings with comments on military action in the Middle East.
But he soon got down to the team's 2025 exploits and rememiniscences of Brazilian icon Pelé's 1970s stint with the New York Cosmos and its electrifying effect on soccer in the United States.
"I shouldn't say this because I'm old, but I watched Pelé play," Trump said. "I don't know, you [Messi] may be better than Pelé. Pelé was pretty good."
The players came bearing gifts for Trump, including a number 47 jersey from the team's signature pink kit, reflecting his status as the nation's 47th president.
From Trump there were shout-outs to Miami's Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez, rising star Tadeo Allende, and Rodrigo De Paul – who the Republican leader complicated on his looks – and a subtle dig at former US president Joe Biden.
"It's my distinct privilege to say what no American president has ever had the chance to say before: Welcome to the White House, Lionel," Trump said, an oblique reference to the fact Messi did not attend the ceremony when Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2025, citing scheduling conflicts.
Trump revelled in receiving a VIP his predecessor couldn’t.
"I've seen a lot of great players come into the world of sports," Trump said. "They come to the Yankees or they come to the Dodgers... and there's such a clamour.
"Everything's great, but they don't win. This guy won," he said with a gesture toward Messi.
"Leo, you came in and you won. There's a lot more pressure put on you than anyone would know because you're sort of expected to win," Trump added.
Trump's rundown of Miami's 2025 achievements included not only their 3-1 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Cup final but also their 2-1 victory over Portuguese side Porto in the FIFA Club World Cup, which marked the first time a North American team beat a European one in official competition.
In accepting Trump's congratulations, Más – the son of Cuban immigrants – said Miami's rise since its 2020 inaugural season was based on the philosophy that "if you work hard and you sacrifice and you dream, it can be possible."
Inter Miami's global success is "not only because of Lionel Messi, but these men standing behind you have changed the culture of football in the United States of America forever," Más said. "We can play with the big boys."
Presidents have welcomed champions for decades to capitalize on the winning optics. But Messi’s visit stands apart as he’s long avoided presidential visits, and sports media speculated for days whether he’d actually go this time.
When Argentina won the World Cup in 2022 — Messi’s crowning moment — the team ghosted Peronist leader Alberto Fernández, who invited them all to celebrate from balcony of the Casa Rosada presidential palace.
Messi even dodged Fernández’s minister as he descended from the plane in Buenos Aires, shielded by his entourage. Argentina’s victory parade got so chaotic in Buenos Aires, with millions of fans, that Messi and others had to be airlifted by helicopters.
Even Argentina’s current President Javier Milei, who is a top Trump ally in Latin America, can’t get a selfie with the nation’s most famous man, with 512 million Instagram followers. Even after praising Messi in an event they both attended last November in Miami, Milei left without the photo any national politician would move mountains to make happen.
To be sure, Messi is in an awkward spot in Argentina a few months before what stands to be his final World Cup when the Albiceleste plays in the US.
Milei is publicly bashing Claudio 'Chiqui' Tapia, the head of the country’s powerful football association known as AFA, who’s been loyal to Messi. Milei and Tapia have been at odds for years as Milei wants to privatise the ownership structures of Argentina’s club teams, an overhaul AFA opposes. Messi hasn’t commented on that situation.
Tapia is also under investigation in Argentina over corruption allegations linked to an opulent property with a helipad outside of Buenos Aires. Last December, he declared annual income of about US$584,000 from multiple roles he holds. Tensions have flared so much between the two that Milei decided not to show up to Trump’s World Cup event in Washington last December because Tapia was going too.
Messi has crossed paths with world leaders, but often only at World Cup games and not at presidential palaces. He did go with the national squad in 2014 to meet then-president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner after the team lost in the final against Germany.
– TIMES/AFP/BLOOMBERG
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