(CNN) US national soccer team player Ali Krieger has said she would "absolutely not" go to the White House if invited and stood by her teammate Megan Rapinoe in her war of words with US President Donald Trump.

The 34-year-old defender -- a veteran of three Women's World Cups -- believes it was important for her to publicly support Rapinoe, who has attracted as much media attention for her comments off the pitch as her exploits on it.

"I refuse to respect a man that warrants no respect," Krieger told CNN New Day's Alisyn Camerota of Trump. "I feel that staying silent at times can side with the oppressor and I didn't want her to feel like she was having to process this all alone, because a lot of us do have those similar feelings.

"I wanted to make sure that as one of her close friends, she didn't feel that and I feel like we're able to focus -- as women it's funny, imagine that, we can multitask -- on two things at once.

"I refuse to just sit back and watch an abuser, a bully talk like that to my friend and I support her as a friend and I wanted to make sure that I said something that meant something to me and was important to me and that's why I did what I did."