celebration

Reporting from Washington — It was classic Donald Trump: The president, angry and embarrassed that most Philadelphia Eagles players planned to boycott the traditional White House victory celebration for Super Bowl champs, dramatically lashed back with his own punishing spin.

Not only did Trump disinvite the entire team late Monday, but he transformed the celebration on Tuesday to dramatically inflame the culture war he ignited two years ago — casting the mostly African American players as unpatriotic and ignoring their protests both of police brutality and of Trump’s perceived divisiveness.

The president, in an early morning Twitter statement, said the White House would hold an alternative celebration of patriotism for the fans, “where we will proudly be playing the National Anthem and other wonderful music.”

“NFL, no escaping to the Locker Rooms!” Trump added, referring to the league owners’ new policy of requiring players to stand for the pregame playing of the national anthem or stay off the field. Though that policy is largely viewed as a response to the president’s pressure, Trump made plain that he was not satisfied; he’s called in the past for owners to force players to stand or be fired.

Later, at the fete on the South Lawn with military bands at the ready, Trump briefly opened the program before an audience that seemed to have fewer than the promised 1,000 Eagles fans, bolstered by a number of administration aides.

“I want to use this opportunity to explain why young Americans stand for the national anthem,” Trump said. “Maybe it’s about time that we understand. We stand to honor our military, and to honor our country and to remember the fallen heroes who never made it back home.”

The president’s reaction this week was more dramatic than his response to a similar snub last year by the 2017 National Basketball Assn. champion Golden State Warriors. That reflects not only his long-running fight with professional football players about the flag and the anthem, but also renewed tensions between Trump and the National Football League that date to the 1980s. Trump failed then both in acquiring an NFL team and in challenging the NFL commercially as a prominent owner in a new, rival sports league, the USFL, which subsequently folded.

Since the campaign, Trump has often used the NFL player protests to rally his supporters and distract from other controversies. Polls show a plurality of Americans, and large majorities of whites and Republicans, do not support the player protests.

As Trump was attacking the Eagles, a variety of other controversies swirled and vied for attention.

Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was accused by federal prosecutors of witness tampering in his tax and money-laundering case. Trump’s press secretary and lawyer were under fire for falsely saying Trump did not dictate the misleading statement last year about a meeting that Trump’s son, son-in-law and Manafort had with a Russian lawyer promising “dirt” on rival Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.

Trump himself faced new questions after his tweet Monday that he had the “absolute right to PARDON myself.” And he was being assailed for ignoring a new study estimating that about 4,600 Americans died from the hurricanes last year in Puerto Rico, not 16 or 17 as he’d said in the past.

The Eagles’ snub presented yet another controversy, but one Trump sought to turn to advantage.

“These cultural issues that stir controversy, they’re winners for the president,” said one Trump ally who speaks with the president and his top aides regularly and requested anonymity.

No Eagles players knelt in protest during the 2017 season. Torrey Smith, a former Eagles player, tweeted, “The President continues to spread the false narrative that players are anti-military.”

Many pro athletes on championship teams, especially African Americans, have been conflicted about White House visits during the Trump presidency, or simply stayed away. The Warriors had their invitation for a visit with Trump rescinded after publicly equivocating about attending.

LeBron James of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, arguably the league’s most influential player, told reporters on Tuesday that “no matter who wins” the NBA Finals now underway between the Cavs and the Warriors, “no one wants to go anyway” to the White House. Warriors star guard Stephen Curry agreed.

Trump, on Twitter, noted that he’d hosted celebrations at the White House for other professional and college teams and sports, including NASCAR, the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Penguins, New England Patriots, the University of Alabama and Clemson University.

Trump decided late Monday, less than 24 hours before the planned Super Bowl tribute, to instead make it “a celebration of the American flag,” as White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called it in a statement Tuesday. Fewer than 10 players out of more than 70 who were eligible had been expected to attend, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Sanders blamed the Eagles for botching the visit. She said 81 people from the team — including employees, coaches, managers and players — had accepted invitations to come, along with 1,000 fans. With only a small number of players expected, the team tried Friday to reschedule the event, Sanders said, to a time when Trump planned to be overseas.

The White House said that “despite sensing a lack of good faith” on the Eagles’ part, it tried to work with the team “to change the event format that could accommodate a smaller group of players.”

“Unfortunately, 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,” she said. “In other words, the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans.”

In a statement, the NFL Players Assn. said it was “disappointed” with Trump’s decision to disinvite the team, adding that it led to the cancellation of several “player-led community service events for young people in the Washington, D.C., area.”

“The NFL players love their country, support our troops, give back to their communities and strive to make America a better place,” the union said.

The Eagles ownership released a statement Monday night that did not mention Trump or the canceled visit, calling it “an inspiration” to watch “the entire Eagles community come together.”

Individual players showed more frustration. The team’s star tight end, Zach Ertz, tweeted angrily after Fox News, Trump’s media ally, used file footage of Eagles players kneeling in prayer to falsely suggest they were kneeling in protest during the anthem.

“This can’t be serious,” Ertz wrote. “Praying before games with my teammates, well before the anthem, is being used for your propaganda?! Just sad, I feel like you guys should have to be better than this.”

Fox News issued a rare correction on Twitter.

Some of Pennsylvania’s Democratic lawmakers also weighed in. Sen. Bob Casey wrote on Twitter, “I’m skipping this political stunt at the White House and just invited the Eagles to Congress.”

Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington »

[email protected] | Twitter: @noahbierman

Special correspondents Eli Stokols and Eliza Fawcett contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details of White House celebration.

This article was originally published at 12:15 p.m.

NEW DELHI — Indians lit up social media on Wednesday to celebrate Zohran Mamdani’s election win as New York City mayor after he thanked his Indian-born parents, quoted a historic speech by India’s first prime minister and turned the victory rally into a Bollywood-style street party.

“We are proud of him. He has done a great job,” Mamdani’s maternal uncle Vikram Nair told the Associated Press. He said he was flooded with requests from friends and families to throw celebratory parties.

“We will plan it soon,” he said, adding that the family would love to have Mamdani take part.

The 34-year-old, Ugandan-born Mamdani is set to be New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century — and the first Muslim one — when he takes office on Jan. 1.

At a boisterous victory rally late Tuesday, Mamdani addressed supporters with a speech inspired by Jawaharlal Nehru’s iconic “Tryst with Destiny” address, delivered on the eve of India’s independence in 1947.

“Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru: ‘A moment comes, but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance.’ Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new,” Mamdani said.

The title track of 2004 Bollywood blockbuster “Dhoom” played as Mamdani concluded his speech, flanked by his parents and wife Rama Duwaji.

Mamdani’s mother, Mira Nair, is an award-winning Indian filmmaker whose credits include “Monsoon Wedding,” “The Namesake” and “Mississippi Masala” and whose work has been nominated for an Academy Award. His father, Mahmood Mamdani, is an anthropology professor at Columbia University.

After his victory, Nair shared Bollywood film maker Zoya Akhtar’s Instagram story that was captioned “Zohran you beauty,” with heart emojis.

Winking references to his Indian heritage figured in Mamdani’s buzzy campaign videos, with many social media posts using dialogues from classic Bollywood movies.

While there was no official Indian government reaction to Mamdani’s win, Shashi Tharoor, a senior leader of the opposition Congress party, hailed his “spectacular victory,” calling it “wonderfully apt!” in his post on social media.

Mamdani’s multi-racial outreach and embrace of his Indian and Muslim identity won him support, but his past remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he publicly called a “war criminal,” had many expressing concern and anger.

Rights groups have accused Modi’s government of widespread attacks and discrimination against India’s Muslims and other minorities. As chief minister of the state of Gujarat, Modi was accused of not acting to stop communal violence during 2002 anti-Muslim riots that left more than 1,000 people dead. An investigation approved by the Indian Supreme Court later absolved him.

Not everyone in India was enthused Wednesday by Mamdani’s historic win, which made headlines.

“It’s that season again, when India’s self-proclaimed urban intelligentsia will obsess over Zohran Mamdani’s New York mayoral win, yet have no clue who their own city’s mayor is!,” Indian lawmaker Milind Deora wrote on social media.

Roy writes for the Associated Press.

Aside from last season’s glitch, where they failed to lift a major trophy, City have been a relentless winning machine themselves, with six Premier League titles in the last eight seasons, as well as a Champions League in 2023.

In Haaland, they have someone destroying defences with power, speed and clinical finishing.

The 1-0 defeat at Villa Park was City’s first in 10 games and, while they responded with wins over Swansea and Bournemouth, he has not forgotten that blip.

“I didn’t score last game,” Haaland told Sky Sports when asked if he felt unstoppable. “I try to help the team to win – that’s my goal.

“Even by scoring, helping or winning duels, it doesn’t matter as long as we are winning games. I want to help the team become a better football team, that’s my job.”

Haaland’s numbers this term are on a different level. The only other player to score 13 times in the opening 10 Premier League games was Les Ferdinand for Newcastle in the 1995-96 campaign, while Haaland himself managed 15 in 2022.

He has the highest xG (9.20) in the league without scoring a penalty, while he accounts for 65% of City’s goals in the top flight and Champions League – scoring 17 of their 26 goals across the two competitions.

“To give the chances and the passes to him, this is what we have to do,” added Guardiola. “He knows that, but we are so blessed and lucky to have, first of all, an incredible person because he is the sweetest and kindest.

“And he will improve. After that, as a player the numbers are just outstanding.”

Much has been said of City’s over-reliance on Haaland and the need for other players to ‘step up’ and score more goals.

“Of course you want other people to join in and they will eventually,” journalist Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“But I don’t even know why this is a debate. When you have Haaland and the best finisher in the world right now, it would be silly to even give a chance to anyone else. You want the ball to fall in the box to Haaland 100% of the time.”