Lionel Messi, Inter Miami honored by Trump at White House

Inter Miami attended a White House reception on Thursday to celebrate winning MLS Cup for the first time in club history, with captain Lionel Messi presenting a gift to President Donald Trump.

Messi entered the East Room alongside Trump and Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas and later handed the president a signature Miami pink soccer ball. Trump also received a Miami jersey and watch from Mas and head coach Javier Mascherano.

It was the first White House visit for Messi, who joined Miami in July 2023, and follows fellow soccer great — and longtime Messi rival — Cristiano Ronaldo attending a dinner there last November.

“We’re honoring truly talented people,” Trump said, while flanked by Messi and Mas with the rest of Miami’s squad behind him. “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 Messi.’

“My son said, ‘Dad, do you know who’s going to be there today?’ I said, ‘No, I got a lot of things going on.’ He said, ‘Messi.’

“He’s a big fan of yours. He thinks you’re just a great person. And I think you got to meet a little while ago. So he’s a big soccer fan, but he’s a tremendous fan of yours. And a gentleman named Ronaldo. Cristiano is great. You’re great.”

Miami lifted the 2025 MLS Cup on Dec. 6, defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in Fort Lauderdale, and the Argentinian superstar was named the league’s MVP for the second consecutive season.

“Leo, you came in and you won, and that’s something very hard to do, very, very unusual and frankly, there’s a lot more pressure put on you than anyone would know, because you sort of expected to win, but almost nobody wins,” Trump said.

Among the other Inter Miami stars in attendance were Luis Suárez, Tadeo Allende and Rodrigo De Paul. MLS commissioner Don Garber sat next to Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House’s World Cup task force. Also attending were retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez and members of Trump’s cabinet.

Following the reception, Trump invited the team to the Oval Office.

The event follows the long-standing tradition in American sport of commemorating a championship with a White House reception.

D.C. United stand as the first MLS team to visit the White House in 1998 following their Cup triumph, and the LA Galaxy visited on multiple occasions by winning in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Messi was first invited by the Joe Biden administration to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in early January 2025 but could not attend because of prior commitments.

During Thursday’s ceremony, Trump spoke about how he saw Brazilian great Pele play with the New York Cosmos. He looked to Messi: “You may be better than Pele,” then asked the crowd, “Who’s better?”

Mas said his team has “changed the culture of football in the United States of America forever.”

“We can play with the big boys, we can play with the heavyweights. Our league can be one of the top leagues in the world,” Mas said. “And it is this ability to dream, to persevere, to have no obstacles ahead of us, that we will continue to be successful. And hopefully, Mr. President, this is not our only visit here celebrating an MLS Cup championship.”

The MLS Cup win capped a swift rise for Inter Miami, who also count David Beckham as a co-owner, since starting play in 2020.

“This championship was very, very well deserved, greatly played, and you’re looking at one of the best teams on the face of the earth standing behind us,” Mas said. “And this all became possible because we dared to dream.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.