It has been a long-standing tradition for major league sports teams that win a championship to visit the White House and celebrate their victories. Major league sports teams include teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, college football and women’s and men’s college basketball. Under the Trump administration, much controversy was stirred up regarding teams accepting invitations to celebrate at the White House, or if they would be invited at all.
In the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, 20 major league sports teams won the championship, but only ten of those teams visited the White House. President Trump refused to invite some of the teams, but many of these teams made it clear that they would not have visited his White House even if they had been invited, although criticized by many. Furthermore, many players for teams that attended events at the White House boycotted the festivities.
President Trump notably did not invite several women’s championship teams to the White House. These teams include the 2017 women’s college basketball champions the South Carolina Gamecocks, the 2017 WNBA champions the Minnesota Lynx and the 2018 women’s college basketball champions the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Additionally, the 2018 WNBA champions the Seattle Storm were not invited, but they made it clear that they would not have attended the ceremony if they were.
The Trump administration also did not invite many men’s championship teams to the White House for celebratory ceremonies. The Villanova Wildcats won the men’s college basketball championship in 2018, but never received an invitation to the White House. Additionally, the Virginia Cavaliers who won the men’s college basketball championship in 2019 and the Golden State Warriors who won the NBA championship in both 2017 and 2018 were not invited to celebrate at the White House but would not have attended anyway.
The North Carolina Tar Heels and the Philadelphia Eagles were invited to Trump’s White House, but did not accept the invitation. The Tar Heels won the men’s college basketball championship in 2016 and declined President Trump’s offer to meet him in the White House due to the Head Coach, Roy Williams, criticisms of the Trump administration. Then, in 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. They were initially invited to the White House but reports indicated that only three players would attend the ceremony. After hearing this news, Trump rescinded the Eagle’s invitation.
Some Americans found it disrespectful that many championship-winning teams did not accept their invitations from the President, while other Americans thought that declining Trump’s invitations was the right thing to do. As the country welcomes the President-Elect Joe Biden to the White House, many are wondering if major league sports championship winners will be consistently invited to the White House again. Will all teams accept invitations to celebratory ceremonies at the White House, as they have in the past, or did the Trump administration set a new precedent that makes declining White House invitations the new normal?
What was the final tally of ; invitations to the White House from Trump, (A) accepted (B) declined