President Donald Trump‘s tension with sports stars isn’t limited to football. Last September, Golden State Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry was disinvited from visiting the White House after he said he opposed going. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Inside Trump’s snub of the Philadelphia Eagles The botched event is the latest example of the White House mentality of Trump against the world.

The Philadelphia Eagles have treated the White House very unfairly.

That's how the bungled celebration for the underdog Super Bowl champions — abruptly canceled by the president Monday night, less than 24 hours before the Rose Garden event was set to take place — is being portrayed by staffers in the West Wing.


Last week, the Eagles submitted 81 names of players and other personnel who were planning to visit the White House, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. The team was "full steam ahead," another administration official said, for an event that had been in the works since February.

But on Monday, the White House was informed that the delegation had been reduced to just two or three players, the owner, and the team's beloved mascot, Swoop.

"We feel like they wanted to publicly humiliate the White House and the president," the official said.

The change of plans was a setback for a White House that has until now viewed its culture war with the National Football League as a winning issue with its base. The event had been in the works for months, and taken up hours of planning by senior administration officials.

The internal reaction to the change of plans was also the latest example of the siege mentality that grips many of the staffers around the president - that it's the ever-shrinking West Wing staff against the world. In her statement, Sanders cited "a lack of good faith" on the part of the Eagles during the negotiations for the event.

Over the past few months, another senior administration official said, the team had even put in a request to meet privately with the president for a few minutes.

But things started to fall apart on Friday, when the team suggested alternate dates because players were dropping out of Tuesday's ceremony. But the suggested dates were seen, internally, as an attempt to get out of a photo-op with President Donald Trump - all of the new dates proposed were during the period when Trump is scheduled to travel to Singapore to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un.

"Finally, the president said it was BS,'' the second official said.

On Monday evening, Trump canceled the event altogether, citing his long-running feud with the NFL over players who have chosen to kneel during the national anthem in protest of racism and police violence. The decision in the Oval Office was swift, with the president asking senior staff if the Marine band was available.

"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," Trump said in a statement.

The last-minute cancellation took many White House staffers by surprise. Some people working in the communications shop said they were alerted to the change of plans just minutes before the presidential statement was blasted out by the press office.

On Tuesday, Trump said the show would go on without the guests of honor. "We will proudly be playing the National Anthem and other wonderful music celebrating our Country today at 3 p.m.," Trump tweeted Tuesday morning. "The White House, with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus. Honoring America! NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!"

In her statement, Sanders added: "The vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans."

The White House had proceeded cautiously with the Eagles from the outset, officials said, knowing there was a strong possibility of players boycotting the trip as a protest of the president's position that players should stand during the national anthem — though Eagles players did not kneel in protest during last season's games.

The NFL announced last month that players must stand during the anthem, or stay in the locker room.

The Eagles did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the White House's version of events.

Players were quick to rip the president's decision to cancel. "It's a cowardly act to cancel the celebration because the majority of the people don't want to see you. To make it about the anthem is foolish," tweeted Carolina Panthers wide receiver Torrey Smith — who played with the Eagles last season — late Monday.

Trump's tension with sports stars isn't limited to football. Last September, Golden State Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry was disinvited from visiting after he said he opposed going.

On Tuesday morning, the NFL Players Association said in a statement posted to Twitter: "Our union is disappointed in the decision by the White House to disinvite players from the Philadelphia Eagles from being recognized and celebrated by all Americans for their accomplishment. This decision by the White House has led to the cancellation of several player-led community service events for young people in the Washington, D.C. area. NFL players love their country, support our troops, give back to their communities and strive to make America a better place."

