BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Assisted by a glittering, pink soccer ball, Lionel Messi crossed yet another frontier with his visit to the White House.
Until Thursday, the global soccer superstar had been equally adept at dodging defenders on the field and political leaders, especially those in his own country of Argentina. There were questions about whether he would even appear with the rest of Inter Miami to celebrate their MLS Cup win at the White House.
As the team assembled in the room, he wasn't among their ranks; instead, he walked in alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and team owner Jorge Mas Santos and later presented Trump with the bedazzled ball.
Although Messi was silent throughout, his appearance seemed to speak volumes for a player whose politics have largely been shrouded in mystery.
When Argentina, captained by Messi, won the World Cup in 2022, the team declined to go to then-President Alberto Fernández's Casa Rosada, or Pink House. Argentina's current president — and Trump ally — Javier Milei has vocally praised Messi, but has yet to secure a public appearance or even photo together. A year ago, Messi was invited by then-U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to be presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom but could not attend because of a scheduling conflict.
Messi's visit surprises some
In Argentina, the visit caused surprise and even dismay, particularly among those who appreciated the national team captain for not getting involved in politics, a trait that had distinguished him from his predecessor, Diego Maradona. (Some, though, thought his appearance could benefit Argentina as it gears up for its World Cup matches in the U.S.)
Kirk Bowman, a professor at Georgia Tech's Sam Nunn School of International Affairs who studies soccer and politics in Latin America, isn't surprised by Messi's visit, though.
“He is very ‘long-termism’ in his career, both as a player but also as someone who has a very strong team building long-term wealth,” Bowman said, pointing to his myriad investments — including his equity in Inter Miami itself.
“He’s also embedded very strongly in Miami as a community, which is far more conservative as a soccer community than other parts of the United States,” Bowman added.
Messi stood to the side of Trump as the president offered comments on Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. At the end, the soccer star offered some applause. Messi's supporters have defended him by saying he isn't fluent in English, a perception Bowman says serves as “an extra layer of brand protection.”
Representatives for Inter Miami and Messi did not respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment on the visit, though Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano was asked about it during a media availability Friday.
“I thought we would talk about football but I guess I’m not lucky. We were following the protocol that is practically a tradition for a team to visit the White House when it becomes champion,” Mascherano said.
He said the team spent a couple hours at the White House and that the “contact with Trump was what you saw on TV and not much more than that.”
Maradona, Barcelona, La Garganta Poderosa and ... Saudi Arabia
The image of Messi with Trump led some fans to invoke the anti-American stance of the late Maradona, Argentina's other great football idol. The captain of the 1986 World Cup-winning team was an active supporter of leaders like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. He even had an image of the guerrilla fighter Ernesto "Che" Guevara tattooed on one of his arms.
Messi, by contrast, has stayed largely silent on issues in the various countries he's lived in, whether Argentina, Spain, France or the United States. His career at FC Barcelona, spanning from his teen years to his exit in 2021, coincided with a politically charged period in Spain when Catalonia's separatist movement seriously threatened to break off the northeastern region from the rest of the nation. Messi, however, steered clear of any political statements either for or against the independence push, which at its height divided Catalonia's 5 million voters in half.
He deftly knew how to preserve his status as an idol of Barça’s divided fans, sticking to scoring goals and winning titles. He could be heard chanting “Visca Barça y visca Catalunya!” (“Long live Barça and long live Catalonia”) while celebrating a title, but the rallying cry was fairly standard for players and largely lacked political overtones.
He otherwise did not speak the local Catalan language but he only had nice things to say about the city he moved to when he was 13. In an interview with Catalan television channel Tv3 in 2024, Messi said that his “children are Catalans” and that “I feel like I am from Barcelona.”
Glimpses of some political leanings came in 2011 and 2020 interviews with La Garganta Poderosa, an Argentine magazine on the left. In the first interview, Messi spoke positively of Guevara, and in the latter, amid the coronavirus pandemic, he called inequality one of society's most pressing problems.
Overall, though, it's unlikely Messi will edge further into politics, Bowman says.
“I don’t think he’s really comfortable being political, but he’s not uncomfortable being used in politics as long as the net benefit is positive,” he said.
Bowman pointed to Messi's commercial contract with Saudi Arabia's tourism board and the "sportswashing" allegations that have followed. He also compared Messi's approach with the kingdom's typical "tarnish clause."
“I think Messi is seen in the same way,” Bowman said. “He will participate in things as long as it doesn’t tarnish Brand Messi.”
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Sen reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Joseph Wilson in Barcelona; Anne M. Peterson in Portland, Oregon; Davidde Corran in New York and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City contributed reporting.
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