In a statement released by the White House regarding Tuesday's change of events after Trump disinvited the Eagles, the Office of the Press Secretary stated the "vast majority of the Eagles decided to abandon their fans" by not wanting to visit the White House.
New White House statement: "The vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans."The Trump administration is presenting itself as the true champion of Eagles fans, like more than the actual champion Eagles. pic.twitter.com/jgeYU4hUpK
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 5, 2018
The statement says the team accepted Trump's invitation to the White House in February. On May 31, the team notified the White House of 81 people from the Eagles, including players, coaches and management, would be attending the event and were cleared by the Secret Service.
Then, the statement says, the team contacted the White House on Friday to try to reschedule the event "citing the fact that many players would not be in attendance."
The two sides could not agree on a mutual time so the Eagles offered to send "only a tiny handful of representatives, while making clear that the great majority of players would not attend the event, despite planning to be in D.C. today. In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans."
The event is still scheduled to be held today at 3 p.m. for the 1,000 or so fans planning to attend.
Trump tweeted about the event on Tuesday morning:
"We will proudly be playing the National Anthem and other wonderful music celebrating our Country today at 3 P.M., The White House, with the United States Marine Band and the United States Army Chorus. Honoring America! NFL, no escaping to Locker Rooms!"
