MLS champion Inter Miami will visit President Donald Trump at the White House next week to celebrate the club’s 2025 championship, a team source confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.
The visit is scheduled for March 5 — two days before Miami faces D.C. United at Audi Field — with the full team expected to attend, according to reports from The Athletic and the Miami Herald.
That means Argentine World Cup champion Lionel Messi, the two-time MLS MVP, could make his first-ever visit to the White House.
Messi was previously unable to attend a ceremony when President Joe Biden awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January 2025 due to a scheduling conflict.
If Messi participates, it would mark the second time in five months Trump has hosted one of soccer’s legendary figures. Cristiano Ronaldo, soccer’s all-time leading goal scorer, attended a black-tie dinner at the White House last November when Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
The visit comes as the United States, Canada and Mexico prepare to co-host the 2026 World Cup.
White House championship celebrations have long been a tradition for American sports champions, though the practice has drawn renewed attention following the Winter Olympics. Trump invited both the gold-medal men’s and women’s hockey teams, but the women’s team declined.
Inter Miami defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 to win the 2025 MLS Cup on Dec. 6. The team opens its 2026 season Sunday against Orlando City before traveling to Washington for the White House visit and subsequent match.
