Trump jokes he 'wanted to race' Saquon Barkley but elected to skip it
President Donald Trump spent his Sunday afternoon with Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley as he and his teammates were set to visit the White House.
Trump touched on his time with Barkley as he talked to reporters before he and Barkley traveled to Washington on Air Force One. The two were seen stepping off Marine One before the president addressed reporters who were waiting along the tarmac.
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"What a nice guy he is. I wanted to race him, but I decided not to do it," the president said.
Barkley is going to be among the Eagles players and personnel who will celebrate their Super Bowl title win at the White House on Monday.
Barkley didn’t talk to reporters, but he was seen at Trump's Bedminster golf course hanging out with the president and others.
The running back’s appearance with Trump came a few days after Eagles teammate Jalen Hurts raised eyebrows when he was silent on a question about whether he would visit the White House with the team to celebrate their Super Bowl championship.
Appearing on the red carpet for the 2025 TIME100 gala in New York City on Thursday night, Hurts was asked whether he planned on visiting the White House for next week’s official visit on Monday.
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"Um," Hurts said before looking around. He never answered the question as the interviewer thanked him for his time.
A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital in early March that an invitation from the president had been sent and that the team had "enthusiastically accepted." This followed the Eagles' decision not to attend the White House in 2018 after winning the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl.
During that time, Trump rescinded the invitation to host the Eagles after several players said they would not participate in the visit because of his previous criticisms of national anthem protests.
But this month, Eagles team owner Jeffrey Lurie called it "a time-honored tradition" that the team was looking forward to.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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