Inter Miami to visit White House next week to mark MLS Cup win

Inter Miami will visit the White House on Thursday, March 5 to mark the team’s MLS Cup win, according to a White House official.

The White House official, responding to a query about the plans from The Athletic, spoke on condition of anonymity and was not authorized to be named publicly.

A representative of Lionel Messi did not respond when asked whether the Argentina international will join, but the trip has been scheduled ahead of the team’s game against D.C. United on Saturday, March 7. Inter Miami did not respond to a request for comment.

Should he attend, the occasion would mark the first time Messi has visited the White House. The record eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was invited to receive the presidential medal of freedom from former President Joe Biden in January 2025, but he was unable to attend.

Cristiano Ronaldo attended a black tie dinner at the White House in November, on the same day U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in the Oval Office. Messi’s visit would mean President Trump has met the two soccer players considered the greatest of their generation ahead of this summer’s World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting alongside Canada and Mexico.

Championship-winning MLS teams have regularly been invited to attend the White House, as is customary across many U.S. pro and college sports, with Columbus Crew the last MLS side to do so in 2024.

Miami owner David Beckham attended the White House with the LA Galaxy in 2012 after winning the 2011 MLS Cup.

The news of Miami’s visit to the White House comes amid the ongoing fallout from the gold medal-winning U.S. hockey team’s own visit to Washington earlier this week which has prompted questions about the politicalization of the team’s win at the Winter Olympics and their association with Trump, and comes ahead of the convening of a panel on the future of college sports scheduled for the following day which the President himself is expected to chair.

Miami won the 2025 MLS Cup in November with victory over Vancouver, marking the team’s first MLS Cup triumph since the team entered MLS in 2020.

Messi, 38, joined the club in the summer of 2023.