Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts refused to say whether or not he plans to join his team for its White House visit next week, making for a particularly awkward red carpet moment Thursday.
At the TIME100 Gala where the Super Bowl MVP was named among the 100 Most Influential People in the World, Hurts was asked by a Time reporter whether he was “planning on visiting the White House next week.” He offered only, “Umm…” before looking away several times.
Hurts then stood silently as the reporter held the mic to his face and eventually signaled the end to the interview with a “Got it. Thank you so much.”
The Eagles won the 2025 Super Bowl in February, after which the team officially accepted the customary invitation for the game’s winners to visit the White House on April 29. However, Hurts’ lack of comment suggests the jury’s still out on whether or not he plans to shake hands with Donald Trump on Monday.
Super Bowl winners have met with the president every year since 1980—that is until 2018, when some Eagles players vowed to boycott the visit the last time the team won the the big game. Trump then rescinded the invitation. Hurts was drafted by the team in 2020.
During Trump’s last clash with the Eagles, he had demanded that players stand for the national anthem instead of kneeling or walking off the field to protest police brutality in solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick. Some boycotting current and former Eagles clarified they declined to visit the White House back then for reasons beyond Trump’s stance on kneeling, but none have commented further on their decision.
Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs quarterback who became a favorite of Trump’s after his wife appeared to support him for re-election on Instagram, would only encourage people to “do their own research” when asked who he supported in the 2024 election. Ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl, Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce praised Trump’s decision to attend the big game, raising questions about his own political affiliations.
While Hurts did not publicly support a presidential candidate in 2024, he spoke highly of his time “talking trash” and golfing with “great leader” and former President Barack Obama in October.
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