CNN —
Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley was seen spending time with US president Donald Trump a day before the team’s scheduled visit to the White House to celebrate their recent Super Bowl victory.
Trump is expected to host the Eagles at the White House on Monday after beating the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
And on Sunday, Barkley and Trump were seen getting off Marine One in New Jersey, with the pair chatting as they disembarked.
Trump approached the reporters assembled at the airport, saying, “What a nice guy” about Barkley.
He added: “I wanted to race him, but I decided not to do it.” The pair later boarded Air Force One.
Pictures on social media showed Barkley and Trump at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ, with multiple “Make America Great Again” hats sitting on the table.
On Monday, Barkley took to social media to reply to those questioning his decision to meet and play golf with Trump.
“Lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” he said on X.
“Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand. Just golfed with Obama not too long ago…and look forward to finishing my round with Trump!
“Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day.”
Barkley’s appearance with Trump comes days after Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts dodged a question about whether he will personally celebrate their Super Bowl victory at the White House.
Super Bowl LIX MVP Hurts didn’t answer when asked whether he’ll be at the White House while he was on the red carpet for the 2025 TIME 100 gala in New York City on Thursday, saying “Um” and looking around before the interviewer thanked him for his time.
There were questions about whether the Eagles would celebrate their Super Bowl victory with Trump having previously decided not to do so after winning their first Vince Lombardi trophy in 2018 when Trump was in his first term in office.
The decision sparked a storm of criticism from Trump, who falsely accused the Eagles of taking a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner” that year and disrespecting the National Anthem in other ways before uninviting the whole team.
But this time around, the team officially accepted an invitation to visit Washington, ending social media speculation that the team would refuse the traditional visit.
Earlier this month, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie called the celebratory White House visit a “time-honored tradition,” but added that it is “optional.”
“So there was no reticence whatsoever. To be celebrated at the White House is a good thing,” Lurie told reporters. “There were special circumstances (in 2018) that were very different, and so this was kind of an obvious choice and look forward to it.
“When you grow up and you hear about: ‘Oh, the championship team got to go to the White House,’ that’s what this is. And so we didn’t have that opportunity and now we do. I think we’re all looking forward to it.”
Lurie continued: “Our culture is that these are optional things. If you want to enjoy this, come along and we’ll have a great time, and if you don’t, it is totally an optional thing.”
