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Days before the Super Bowl LIX-winning Philadelphia Eagles visited the White House to celebrate their title, star running back Saquon Barkley went one step further.
Fresh off a 2,000-yard campaign to be named Offensive Player of the Year, Barkley hopped on Air Force One and spent a day with President Donald Trump at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Barkley received a lot of backlash, but he defended himself at the time.
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President Donald Trump walks with Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley before boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, on April 27, 2025. Trump was returning to Washington from his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, after traveling to Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral. (AFP via Getty Images)
“Haha some people are really upset because I played golf and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley posted on X at the time. “Maybe I just respect the position, it’s not a hard concept to understand. I just played golf with Obama not long ago…and I’m hoping to finish my round with Trump! Now, get my mentions out of all this politics and have an awesome day.”
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart introduced Trump at an event in New York in May and received similar criticism. As someone with experience, Barkley learned the hard way that “you have to stay away from politics.”
“You’re not going to win. I played golf with the president of the United States of America, Mr. Trump, and I played with Barack Obama, and one day I played with Trump, all these crazy things were said about me, and now I’m this person, I’m that person, and I don’t align, some of the things I don’t even align with. But the thing is, as an athlete, you know, you’re not going to win. You’re not going to win at that…” Barkley told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview.
President Donald Trump greets Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley at a White House event welcoming the 2025 Super Bowl champion Eagles on the South Lawn in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2025. Trump honored the Eagles after their second Super Bowl victory. (Getty Images)
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“That was a decision that I made and I got a lot of backlash for it. I can understand why I got backlash for it. I don’t think the things that were said about me are true. I know it’s not true. There’s a lot of things where, just because, you know, I’m not getting into it, like you have to be this way or that way. Just because you played golf with the president of the United States doesn’t make you this. Just because you played golf with Barack Obama doesn’t make you this. “You are this, but In the world we live in, the chaos we live in, you are this or you are that. And that’s very far from the truth, but at the end of the day, I was blessed with a great opportunity.”
Several teams, especially in the NBA, have skipped a visit to the White House, but a trip to DC for champions is all Barkley has ever known.
“You may never get that opportunity again, and there’s no guarantee that we’ll win a Super Bowl again, and if we win a Super Bowl, in my lifetime, what do you do? You win a Super Bowl, you go to the White House, you represent your team,” he said.
Barkley was offered a position on Trump’s Sports, Fitness and Nutrition Council, but turned it down.
The criticism that Dart received, however, was not only from abroad, but also from his own locker room. Defensive lineman Abdul Carter said he thought the video of the two of them was “AI,” adding, “What are we doing, man?” Carter and Dart told reporters they discussed the matter and even hugged after speaking to the media about the ordeal.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart as he arrives to speak at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, on May 22, 2026. (Alex Brandon/AP)
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Barkley said he even spoke to Dart about the situation and praised the Giants stars for talking to each other.
“I’m glad that everything that happened there in New York, they put it in the past and got back to the ball,” Barkley said.
