President Trump honours Inter Miami, Lionel Messi at White House

US President Donald Trump honoured Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami team at the White House on Thursday. They were honoured for winning MLS Cup last year.

"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," Trump said.

Trump said his son Barron is a big fan of Messi.

"My son said, ‘Dad, you know who's going to be there today?' I said, ‘No, I got a lot of things going on today,'" Trump said. "He said ‘Messi!' 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 ago. So he's a big soccer fan, but he's a tremendous fan of yours. And a gentleman named Ronaldo. ⁠Cristiano is ‌great. You're great."

Trump praised Messi for winning with all the pressure.

Regarding Messi's impact on Inter Miami, Trump said, "This guy won. There was tremendous fanfare, and ⁠he won. Leo, you came in and won. It's hard to do. ... You came in and won ‌with all that pressure."

Wading into the area of soccer ‌history, Trump said to Messi, "You may be better than Pele," ‌and he asked those in attendance, "Who's better?"

Trump said of the ‌Inter Miami squad, "What a group of people. We could have a lot of fun with these guys. You can imagine how they celebrate."

Messi gave Trump a pink signed Inter Miami soccer ​ball, and club co-owner Jorge Mas and coach Javier Mascerano presented ​the president with a team jersey ​and watch.

(With agency inputs)