Mascherano: Inter Miami Promised Football Talk at White House, Reality Was Different

By Rasheed Adewuyi, New York

Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano has explained the circumstances surrounding the team’s visit to the White House, insisting the squad expected a brief football-focused ceremony before events took a different turn.

Players and staff of Inter Miami CF were invited to The White House earlier this week after winning the 2025 Major League Soccer title, where they were hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump alongside captain Lionel Messi and several teammates. The ceremony is part of a long-standing American sporting tradition in which championship teams are honoured at the presidential residence.

However, speaking afterward, Mascherano revealed that the experience differed from what the team had originally expected.

“We were told the visit would simply be to congratulate us on our title and that we’d only talk about football, but that’s not how it turned out,” Mascherano said, according to the Miami Herald.

The Argentine coach added that the team had limited interaction with the president during the trip.

“We arrived early, waited, saw very little of the White House, and only saw the president during the moment shown on TV.”

Mascherano stressed that the squad approached the invitation professionally and followed an arrangement that had already been planned well in advance.

“We’re mature enough to separate things. The visit was scheduled more than two months ago, so we simply followed the protocol that had already been agreed.”

He also acknowledged that the global political climate had shifted since the initial arrangements were made.

“We’re aware the current situation in the world is different from when the visit was first arranged.”

During the ceremony, Trump praised Messi and the club’s achievements while occasionally veering into political commentary, including remarks about international affairs, as the MLS champions stood behind him in the East Room.

The event nevertheless marked a historic moment for the Florida-based club after their MLS Cup triumph, with Messi presenting the president with a commemorative pink soccer ball during the celebration.

Despite the unusual circumstances, Mascherano maintained that the team simply respected the invitation and protocol that accompanies championship honours in the United States.