FULL：Trump hosts Messi, Inter Miami FC team at the White House

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, accompanied by Jorge Moss, owner of the Inter-Miami CF, and Lionel Messi. We like champions, we like winners, and we've got a lot of them here today. Too many to introduce. A lot of them are political champions and we don't care about them today, right? Right, Duffy? But we have, most importantly, wonderful people that love our country. And before we begin, I think I will say a few words about what's going on with respect to our operation in the country of Iran. The United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before, actually. We're destroying more of Iran's missiles and drone capability every single hour, knocking them out like nobody thought was possible. As soon as they set off a missile, within four minutes the launcher gets hit. They don't know what's happening. But we have the greatest military anywhere in the world. Their navy is gone. Twenty-four ships in three days. That's a lot of ships. Their anti-aircraft weapons are gone, so they have no air force, they have no air defense. All of their airplanes are gone. Their communications are gone. Missiles are gone. Launchers are gone. About 60 percent and 64 percent, respectively. Other than that, they're doing quite well. I said, what's left? But they're tough and they want to fight. And they're calling, they're saying, how do we make a deal? I said, you're being a little bit late. And we want to fight now more than they do. We've had 47 years, depending on the way you count it, but 47 years of horror with this group. And, you know, when you see somebody walking down the street without their legs, without the arms, whose face is so badly affected and hurt, it mostly came from 95 percent Soleimani and Iran. And we, other presidents, lived with it. I didn't live with it. And so our people are doing a great job. Again, the greatest military anyone's seen. Thank you. Thank you very much. And yesterday, my administration announced decisive action to help keep down the oil prices, including offering political risk insurance for tankers transiting into the Gulf. As you know, pretty dangerous territory. Further action to reduce pressure on oil is eminent and the oil seems to have pretty much stabilized. We had it very low, but I had to take this little detour. If it's OK with everybody, Scott, it's OK with you. Scott's the one who has to put up with it. He said, you have to do this now. I said, I have to do it, Scott. Right. But it's been very strong and everybody, including Scott, everybody feels we had really no choice. It was going to hit us if we didn't hit them because they're crazy. And in the long term, the actions we're taking will dramatically increase the stability of the region and oil prices and stock markets and everything else. You know, we set the all-time record in history with the Dow going to 50,000. So Dow is at 50,000. It was supposed to be maybe if we were lucky within by the end of my presidency in four years. And we did it in my first year. We did the S&P 500. We did that in a period of less than a year. And that was even tougher than the Dow, they said, so it wasn't going to happen. But we have a great country. We have a country that's never done this well. We've had tremendous success in so many different ways. I built the military and rebuilt it in my first term. And we're using it more than I'd like to use it, to be honest with you. But when we use it, we found out it certainly did work. When we look at Venezuela, when we look at the first attack, Midnight Hammer in Iran, which really set the stage for what we're doing right now, it's been pretty amazing. And I'm once again calling on all members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the military and the police to lay down their arms. They're only going to be killed. And now is the time to stand up for the Iranian people and help take back your country. You're going to have a chance after all these years to take back your country. Accept immunity. We'll give you immunity. And we'll be giving you really the right side of history because that's what it is. So you'll be perfectly safe with total immunity or you'll face absolutely guaranteed death. And I don't want to see that. They don't want to see it either. We also urge Iranian diplomats around the world to request asylum and to help us shape a new and better Iran with great potential. It's a country with great potential, as much better future for Iran. It's now beginning. It's going to be, I think, a great future. And the United States will ensure that whoever leads the country next, Iran will not threaten America or its neighbors, Israel, anybody. If you look at what happened, they had missiles aimed at all of these other countries, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, many others that weren't really involved very much. And they had missiles aimed. Well, they were aimed there long before this ever started. They were going after the entire Middle East. And then we came along. We blew up their party. So we have phenomenal people. I want to thank all of the people that have been involved. Marco, you've been doing a fantastic job. And you've been doing a fantastic job on a place called Cuba. And Eirad came in before. I said, hey, do you want to come up to a little awards? He's gone to plenty of award ceremonies. Thank you, Eirad. Big fan. But what's happening with Cuba is amazing. And we think that we want to finish this one first. But that will be just a question of time before you and a lot of unbelievable people are going to be going back to Cuba, hopefully not to stay. We want you back and we don't want to lose you. We don't want to make it so nice that they stay. But some people probably do want to stay. They love Cuba so much. I hear it all the time. That was another one that wasn't supposed to happen. Venezuela is going great. It's been stabilized. We have a wonderful person as your president-elect, Delcy Rodriguez. And she and her staff have been doing a fantastic job working with us. We're taking out hundreds of millions of barrels of oil. And it's going to Houston and various other places where it's being refined. And we're sending them back far more money than they've made in many years. And actually, very shortly, it will be more money than they've ever made. And Venezuela is working. So we've had a lot of countries in places that truly love – you would say football, I would say soccer. But these are all countries that love football-slash-soccer. And so I think the group likes it. And if you'd like, you could – I know I'm a very exciting speaker, but you can sit down if you'd like, okay? I'm looking at everybody standing. I'm saying, let's sit down. Because we're here to honor these great champions, and we want to take our time, right? Let's get to the reason that we're here. And it's a beautiful reason, because we're honoring truly talented people. Today, we're thrilled to host the 2025 MLS Cup Champions Inter-Miami. Great job. And it's my distinct privilege to say what no American president has ever had the chance to say before. Welcome to the White House, Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi is – my son said, Dad, do you know who's going to be there today? And I said, No. I got a lot of things going on. He said, Messi. And I said, Really? He's a big fan. He's a big fan of yours. He thinks you're just a great person, and I think you got to meet a little while. So he's a big soccer fan, but he's a tremendous fan of yours. And a gentleman named Ronaldo. We have – Cristiano is great. You're great. Some big champions, some great, great athletes in that sport, and people that really – they really love what they're doing, and they're doing it well. And it's an honor for us and everybody at the White House to be honoring you today. So congratulations as well to co-owners Jorge and Jose. Jose Mas. Mas. Who came from Cuba, right? Originally from Cuba. Your parents came. You're going to go back. And you won't need my approval. You just fly back in when – I can just see that. It's going to be a great day, right? We're going to celebrate that separately. I just wanted to wait a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait a couple of weeks, but we'll be together again soon, I suspect, celebrating what's going on in Cuba. They want to make a deal so badly, you have no idea. As well as head coach, who I hear is a phenomenal coach, Javier Mascherano. I've heard he's a great coach. Well, anybody who wins is a good coach in my book, but I heard you're a hell of a coach. And all of the tremendous players that are just amazing. We're also grateful to be joined by the MLS commissioner, Don Garber. Don, where are you, Don? Stand up, Don. Good job. As well as proud Miami sports fan, Secretary of State. I'm telling you, he's going to go down as the best Secretary of State in the country's history, Marco Rubio. I don't want him to get too popular. You know, when they get too popular, all of a sudden you see, where's Marco? He's not around anymore. I don't see him. He's doing some job, and your next one is going to be. We want to do that special. He's waiting, but he says, let's get this one finished first. We could do them all at the same time, but bad things happen. If you watch countries over the years, you do them all too fast, bad things happen. We're not going to let anything bad happen to this country. Also with us are Attorney General Pam Bondi, who's a terrific person and fan. And she's proving how tough she is. And I think the next three years, she's going to really prove it, right? Like these people. Secretary Scott Besant, Laurie Chavez de Rima, and Sean Duffy. Thank you, everybody. What a great team. And U.S. Trade Representative, who's done incredible deals, unbelievable, Jamison Greer. Thank you, Jamison Greer. And our country has never been bigger, better, richer, or stronger. And the deals we're making are unbelievable. And a lot of it's because of the tariffs, and a lot of it's because of everything else. We had a little complicating factor with tariffs the other day with the Supreme Court. They did the wrong thing, but it didn't make any difference because we have another way of doing it. They always have to make it the hard way. Do you know about that? You always have to. Is it like that? It's always got to be the difficult way, right? But we're doing great. Our country is doing incredibly well. It's never done like this. You know, I was with the King of Saudi Arabia. He said, you know, a year and a half ago, we thought your country was dead, would never come back. And now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world, which was sort of cool. I'll relate that story. But many, many leaders say the same thing. We have the hottest country anywhere in the world. 2025 was the record-shattering season for Inter-Miami beginning last summer at the historic FIFA Club World Cup, hosted for the first time right here in the USA. So exciting. I shouldn't say this because you'll say I'm old, but I watched Pelé play. He played for the Cosmos. Do you know that? And Steve Ross was a great friend. I don't know how many people remember Steve. He was a legendary businessman. He really started cable and cable TV. He was way ahead of time and ultimately passed away of terrible, tragically. But he started the Cosmos team and he wanted to get some good players. So he started with Pelé. I don't know. You may be better than Pelé. Pelé was pretty good. Who's better? Him or Pelé? I agree. I think he is. But he was pretty good, right? Pelé was pretty good. But it was very exciting. And I went to the games. I'd go every once in a while. But soccer just didn't catch on. And then Steve, when Steve got ill, it sort of went away. And then he came back. And now it's just turning out to be amazing how it's coming back in this country. But the Cosmos were a very hot team, playing with other teams that weren't so good. But I got to watch Pelé play and he was something too. In the June group stage of that tournament, these players went toe-to-toe with some of the best teams anywhere in the world. You tied Egypt's best club, supposed to be an unbelievable, talented club, with a gutsy performance from veteran goalie Oscar Ostari, who played a great game. Then you tied the top Brazilian club. Wow. Thanks to a brilliant goal from one of the greatest strikers of all time, Luis Suarez. He's a good-looking people. Marco, I don't like good-looking men. You don't feel so good about yourself standing up here. Good-looking people. In the 65th minute, Luis gathered the ball around midfield and turned for a vintage solo run, dribbling through the defense, driving past defenders like few people have ever seen before, cutting to his left, hammering home a goal that secured Miami's place in the next round. But no match in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup was more important than the match against FC Porto. Porto took an early lead, but you came back strong in the 54th minute, tied one-to-one. Leo lined up for one of his iconic free kicks. He struck the ball decisively, bending it over the wall and beating the keeper with a sensational left hook. Would I be able to do that if I practiced? He said no. I think he's right, my friend. Great. In that moment, you sealed a truly historic inter-Miami victory, becoming the first club from North America ever to beat a European club in official competition. Unbelievable. You know, I have to just interject. So, over the years, I love sports, and I've watched my friend A-Rod with George Steinberg. I'd sit in his box just the two of us. He would never have anybody but me. He liked me, right? He liked me, and he liked you. He liked almost nobody. It would be a World Series when baseball was hot. It's not as hot now, I'll be honest with you. They do things wrong. But when baseball was hot as a pistol with George, and I'd sit and I'd watch the Yankees, and he'd have 30 seats, and it would just be me and him. And I said to A-Rod, I would say, say, what was the most difficult thing you've ever done? And I said, it's probably sitting for three hours with George Steinberg and watching a Yankee playoff game or a World Series game. You know what I mean by that. He was a difficult guy, but he was great, right? He liked me, I liked him, and we both liked nobody else. And so, that was a good combination. But I have to say this. So, I've seen a lot of great players come into the world of sports, and they came in from all different countries, all different players. They've come, in some cases, just from different states. They come to the Yankees, or they come to the Dodgers, or they come to whatever. But I've seen them come in from other countries, and there's such a clamor, oh, so great, so great, everything's great. But they don't win. This guy won. He came in, there was tremendous fanfare, and he won. But they, it's true, they don't win. They come in and, you know, they're great players, and they can even play okay, but they don't win. And Leo, you came in and you won, and that's something very hard to do, very unusual, and frankly, there's a lot more pressure put on you than anyone would know because, you know, you're sort of expected to win, but almost nobody wins. They come in, they're great, they're the best in the world, they get paid a fortune. You came in and you won with all that pressure. That's an amazing tribute, so congratulations. Right? But in that moment, you sealed a truly historic inter-Miami victory. And think of that, first club ever, North America, to top the so-called European clubs, pretty amazing thing to do. Returning to the MLS inter-Miami, built on that incredible momentum, playing a record number of games and scoring a total of 101 goals, the most in MLS history. Is that correct, Mr. Commissioner? That's pretty good. How's Andrew? Is Andrew treating you okay? He's a good golfer, too, actually. People don't know it. He's a very good golfer, right, Andrew? But Trump's a good golfer, too, Andrew. That's quite right. Thank you. With 29 goals in the regular season alone, Leo won the prize Golden Boot, becoming the first player to be named the league MVP twice in a row. Amazing. You know, comes in, a lot of great players. Pretty amazing thing to do. Very hard to do. Exploding into the playoffs, this team racked up a series of statement wins, big wins that, frankly, wins that a lot of people didn't think they could do. You secured a 3-1 must-win victory over Nashville SC. You thrashed FC Cincinnati 4-0 on the road. And then you routed New York City FC 5-1, led by a hat trick from young star Tadeo Allende. Where is Tadeo? What a group of people. We could have a lot of fun with these guys. You can imagine when they win how they celebrate. We don't want to talk about it. In that MLS Cup final against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the entire team played together as one flawless unit. Just flawless, they say. After Vancouver tied the game 1-1, Leo picked the pocket of a Whitecap defender and sent a pass to the great Rodrigo de Paul. Where the hell is Rodrigo? Do you have any bad-looking players? I like the bad-looking guys much better. Who stuck a low-driving shot into the side net, taking the lead. And then in the sixth extra minute of stoppage time, Tadeo drove home your third and final goal, making the score 3-1 and securing your status as the first champions in club history. What an amazing accomplishment. Coach Mascherano became one of the few head coaches to win the MLS Cup finals in his very first year, and Leo claimed the 47th trophy of his storied career. 47th. Can you imagine that? The most of all time. That's the most of all time. So Leo is the reigning FIFA World Cup MVP. You could have gone anywhere in the world. You could have chosen any team in the world, and you chose to go to Miami. I don't blame you. The weather is extremely good. Do you go to Doral? You go to Doral and play golf? And I just want to thank you for bringing us all on this ride because you are hot and talented and a great person. I look forward to seeing many of you on the, really, on the summer. We're going to be out there in the summer. 2026 FIFA World Cup. And we have a lot of interesting things because we have the World Cup and we have the Olympics and we have the 250. I was responsible for getting the Olympics in my first term, and I was responsible for getting with Johnny. We've got the World Cup, and Johnny is a good man. Do we like Johnny? Do we like? I think so, right? Like you say, yeah, I think so. He's a good guy. But, you know, they're setting records on the World Cup, setting absolute total. I guess many of you guys are going to be in it, but setting records on ticket sales, right? Numbers that, I mean, literally double what anyone's ever done before. So it's good. So they picked the right. But I thought that I didn't know that I'd be the president during this because the election was rigged and stolen and I had to do it all again. And then I said, hey, wait a minute, I just got soccer slash football and I just got the Olympics that we got most important. I took credit for those two. Then I tried to take credit for 250 years, and it didn't play well at all with the press. But we're going to have an amazing year. But I just want to thank you so much, Horace, for the job you've done. I've known you for a while, and I've known of you for a long period of time. You are a spectacular man, and please say a few words. Thank you very much, Mr. President, to all these distinguished guests, secretaries, so many friends and supporters. On behalf of myself, my wife, Aleda, my brother, Jose, and his wife, Patty, and my whole family who is here today, with David Beckham, I want to express to you what an extreme honor and privilege it is to be in the people's house, led by you, celebrating in the presence of champions. Win or dissolve. Because this championship was very, very well-deserved, greatly played, and you're looking at one of the best teams on the face of the earth standing behind us. And this all became possible because we dared to dream. Seven years ago, Inter-Miami was nothing but an idea and a dream. I remember after talking to Commissioner Garber and being awarded a team, we sat in the conference room of our family business in Miami and said to each other, what do we do now? And as the son of a man and woman who left Cuba, just seeking freedom in this great country, it has driven us to excellence. And we thought, what can we do to make a difference? What can we do that's special? And at that time, I told myself what many people thought impossible. I said, we are going to bring the world's greatest player to play at Inter-Miami. And that was in 2019. And today, standing before you, you have the world's greatest player here to my right. Over the course of the last two and a half years that he has been here, we've been on an epic run of records, of trophies, of winning. Because what I've wanted to establish with Inter-Miami is a winning culture. That it be a reflection of our community of South Florida and Miami, made up of winners, of hardworking men and women, and I want our team to be an embodiment of our fan base and everyone who aspires to a better future and to a better life. On the back of our jersey, Mr. President, it says, Freedom to Dream. Because that's our family moniker and what embodies our team and our aspirations. But that all began many, many years before at the dinner table of our family, with my late father, Jorge Mascanosa, and my mother, Irma, who is here today. And I speak now in tribute to our parents' generation, and I share that with Secretary Marco Rubio, of men and women who fled communism, who fled tyranny, who wanted a better life for their boys and their daughters and their sons in the future. And at that table was instilled in us that if you work hard, and you sacrifice, and you dream, it can be possible. And today, standing before you, Inter-Miami is one of the world's biggest clubs. Most based on history, but our history has been short. But having a winning culture, having the best-selling jersey on the face of the earth, making a global difference, and not only because of Lionel Messi, but these men standing behind you have changed the culture of football in the United States of America forever. We can play with the big boys, we can be heavyweights, our league can be one of the top leagues in the world, and it is this ability to dream, to persevere, to have no obstacles ahead of us, that we will continue to be successful. And hopefully, Mr. President, this is not our only visit here celebrating an MLS Cup championship. But this team is an embodiment of that. And I want to thank you to be able to express this to you, to so many dear friends, loved ones, and global fans all over the world. We fill stadiums everywhere. We're playing this weekend against D.C. United at the Raven Stadium in Baltimore. This will have a sellout there. We sell out everywhere we go. We open the season in the L.A. Coliseum with a record crowd. But it is our aspiration to continue breaking barriers, to putting no limits, to making sure that Major League Soccer and Inter-Miami over the course of the next few years is considered with the elite of global football. So with that said, Mr. President, thank you. Thanking you for sharing this championship with us, that we can share it with our families in the people's house, and we can share it with the world. Thank you. And now we have some gifts we'd like to present to you. 47, Lionel Messi's number 10 best-selling jersey. Which we made, which hopefully will have a rightful place in the global office, in dedication of you, dedicated for our championship. That's for you, Mr. President. And then, most importantly, this is a very, very special limited edition Inter-Miami pink Tudor watch. It's etched on the back with your name in a tribute to you, and special because time is a precious element. Time has a lot of meaning, I think, to all of us. And we wanted to give you that. And also we have an additional gift, which is another jersey for very luscious Chief of Staff. So we do have her jersey somewhere. Number 32. I want to just invite the team to the Oval Office, a very, very special place. It's sort of the center of the world, especially now, but always it's the center of the world. We have a little present for you there. And anybody who would like to come, you can just follow me on down there, okay? You'll see the Oval, and you'll have some fun. Thank you all very much.