As Inter Miami’s players shuffled into place for a White House ceremony honoring December’s MLS Cup title, the scene initially felt familiar. It’s the type of routine victory‑tour stop countless championship teams have made. But that was where any sense of normalcy ended.
More than nine minutes into the visit, the words “Inter Miami” were finally uttered, though the event hardly returned to its intended focus. Inter Miami’s player, and arguably the biggest soccer star of his generation, faded into the background as Trump launched into a lengthy opening statement centered on Iran and the U.S.-Israel military operation. The players occasionally laughed and applauded with the audience as he said the U.S. was “totally demolish[ing]” Iran, then drifted into comments about Cuba and, eventually, Venezuela over the course of an eight‑minute address.
The moment was then punctuated by a surprise mention of retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez, before Jorge Mas seized the spotlight with a passionate speech. Afterward, Mas presented Trump with a bedazzled pink soccer ball, a limited‑edition Inter Miami–themed watch, and a No. 47 pink Inter Miami jersey – a final touch that capped a strange, at times incomprehensible blend of current events and sports for a team preparing to face D.C. United on Saturday at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
Messi’s entrance, Beckham’s no-show and an A-Rod cameo
One by one, in single file, Miami players and staff members entered the room: Luis Suarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Javier Mascherano, and co-owner Jorge Mas among them. Lionel Messi’s absence was noticeable at first, but in the end, perhaps to build a bit of drama, the World Cup winner made his way into the room alongside Trump, who immediately stepped into the podium to deliver military talking points before shifting his attention the team.
While Mas led a group of club representatives who were present and MLS commissioner Don Garber was in the room, one person was notably absent – fellow co-owner David Beckham, essentially the face of Inter Miami when Messi is not occupying the role. Beckham posted on his Instagram stories that he was in Paris on Thursday, after recently attending a show of his son Cruz, an aspiring singer. His wife, Victoria Beckham, is set to showcase her clothing line at Paris Fashion Week.
One surprise guest in attendance was A-Rod, who Trump inexplicably name-dropped during his opening remarks while he discussed Cuba.
“A-Rod came in before,” Trump said. “I said, ‘Do you want to come to a little awards show?’ He’s been to plenty of awards ceremonies. Thank you, A-Rod.”
Mas: ‘Our league can be one of the top leagues’
There was some official business during an event that inexplicably covered a variety of topics, chiefly when Mas stood at the podium to celebrate Miami’s success. For Mas, the moment was a culmination of a years-long effort to land Messi’s signature, transforming the club’s visibility and ushered in a run of trophies.
“Today, standing before you, you have the world’s greatest player here to my right,” Mas said in reference to Messi. “Over the course of the last two and a half years that he has been here, we’ve been on an epic run of records, of trophies, of winning because what I’ve wanted to establish with Inter Miami is a winning culture that would be a reflection of our community, of South Florida, Miami, made up winners, of hard-working men and women. And I want our team to be an embodiment of our fanbase and everyone who aspires to a better future and a better life.”
The highlights Mas mentioned included December’s MLS Cup and a trip to the Club World Cup knockouts last year, eventually losing to finalists Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. He also, though, positioned Miami as a game-changing force in American soccer – and one that hopefully signals the growth potential for MLS clubs as a whole.
“And today, standing before you, Inter Miami is one of the world’s biggest clubs. Most are based on history, but our history has been short, but having a winning culture, having the best-selling jersey on the face of the Earth, making a global difference and not only because of Lionel Messi. These men standing behind you have changed the culture of football in the United States of America forever,” he said “We can play with the big boys. We can beat heavyweights. Our league can be one of the top leagues in the world and it is this ability to dream, to persevere, to have no obstacles ahead of us, that we will continue to be successful.”
Mas shares his American ‘Dream’
Mas, the son of Cuban immigrants, used his time at the podium to paint a familiar portrait of the American dream, one that he connected back to Inter Miami.
“On the back of our jersey, Mr. President, it says ‘Freedom to Dream’ because that’s our family moniker and what embodies our team and our aspirations but that all began many, many years before at the dinner table of our family, with my late father Jorge Mas Canos and my mother Irma, who is here today,” Mas said. “I speak now in tribute to our parents’ generation and I share that with Secretary Marco Rubio, of men and women who fled communism, who fled tyranny, who wanted a better life for their boys and their daughters and their sons in the future and at that table, it was instilled in us that if you work hard and if you sacrifice and you dream, it can be possible.”
It was in stark contrast to Trump’s reference to Cuba earlier in the afternoon, name-dropping the Caribbean nation while discussing how military operations in Iran and Venezuela were faring. He said, “We want to finish this one first,” seemingly referencing current events in Iran before pivoting to Cuba in an incoherent tangent that preceded his remarks on Inter Miami.
“What’s happening with Cuba is amazing,” Trump said, right after he thanked Rodriguez for his attendance. “We want to finish this one first, but that will be just a question of time before you and unbelievable people are going to be going back. Hopefully not to stay. We want you back. We don’t want to lose you. We don’t want to make it so nice that they want to stay, but some people probably do want to stay.”
