The Eagles' White House invitation was rescinded by President Trump on Monday night, the eve of the Eagles' scheduled visit. With a number of players planning to boycott the event, the Eagles were going to send what President Trump termed a "smaller delegation," prompting him to disinvite the team.
"The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow," President Trump said in a statement. "They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country. The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better.
"These fans are still invited to the White House to be part of a different type of ceremony _ one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem. I will be there at 3:00 p.m. with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus to celebrate America."
The Eagles were scheduled to be honored by President Trump at 3 p.m. on the South Lawn. Some players, such as safety Malcolm Jenkins and defensive end Chris Long, made it clear they would not attend. Quarterback Carson Wentz indicated that he would attend if most of his teammates planned on attending. Others on the team still vacillated when they last met with reporters. Team officials left the decision to players. The Eagles postponed their scheduled media availability on Monday afternoon.
"I don't want to take away from anybody's experience or make it a big distraction," Jenkins said three days after the Eagles won the Super Bowl. "It is a celebratory event. I want the guys who choose to go to enjoy that. ... Me personally, because it is not a meeting or a sit-down or anything like that, I'm just not interested in the photo opp. ... Over the last two years, I have been meeting with legislators, both Republican and Democrat, don't matter. If you want to meet to talk about advancing our communities, changing our country, I am all for that. But this isn't one of those meetings."
It's been a sensitive topic since the Eagles won the Super Bowl in February, and it wasn't clear they were going until last month. The Eagles remained coy about the logistics of the trip. The players met to discuss the issue. But it was not known exactly what they planned, and now their invitation was rescinded.
Torrey Smith, who was traded from the Eagles to the Panthers in the offseason, shared his thoughts on Twitter shortly after the news broke. "So many lies," he said. "No one refused to go simply because Trump 'insists' folks stand for the anthem."
