President Trump honors Inter Miami, Lionel Messi at White House

Lionel Messi has drawn high praise from President Donald Trump as the Argentine superstar and his Inter Miami team were honoured at the White House on Thursday for winning the MLS Cup last year.

The president said, "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 went on to reveal the affection his 19-year-old son Barron has for 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."

Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi's longtime rival in European soccer, attended a White House event with Trump last year.

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."

The president singled out Rodrigo De Paul, an Argentine midfielder who scored the go-ahead goal in the Herons' 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS Cup final.

The president added, "Do you have any bad-looking players? I like the bad-looking players much better."

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.

Mas said, "It's our aspiration to continue breaking barriers and putting no limits, to making sure Major League Soccer and Inter Miami are considered among the elite in global football."