Saquon Barkley Scoffs At Criticism Over His Golf Outing With Trump — But He’s Missing 1 Point

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley thinks those criticizing his recent outing with President Donald Trump are mistakenly making his actions about “politics” — but an expert explains why he’s missing the point.

Barkley was spotted spending time with Trump at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, over the weekend. During that time he also took a ride with the president on Air Force One, and at one point he was seen exiting the Marine One helicopter with Trump.

On Monday, the NFL star responded to criticism he said he’d faced after photos and video clips of the two smiling and laughing together made rounds on the internet. One clip showed Trump telling reporters, after leaving Marine One with Barkley, that the running back is a “nice guy.”

“lol some people are really upset cause I played golfed and flew to the White House with the PRESIDENT,” Barkley wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand.”

“Just golfed with Obama not too long ago … and look forward to finishing my round with Trump! Now ya get out my mentions with all this politics and have amazing day,” he continued, adding a laughing emoji. The official X account for the White House has since reposted Barkley’s response.

Barkley’s golf outing with Trump took place before the Philadelphia Eagles were set to be honored at The White House on Monday for a scheduled visit to celebrate their 2025 Super Bowl win. Questions loomed about whether some players would skip the event. Trump canceled the White House ceremony for the Eagles during his first term as president in 2018 because several players indicated they would not attend.

Several Eagles players, including quarterback Jalen Hurts, didn’t attend Monday’s celebration. The White House cited scheduling conflicts as the reason for their absence in a statement to HuffPost.

But much of the criticism directed toward Barkley this week has been centered on the fact that he appeared to be cozying up to Trump ahead of his team’s scheduled visit to the White House. And many on X have shut down his response to the backlash, with people arguing that Trump’s presidency has been riddled with chaos with his administration’s dismantling of federal agencies, his crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, his sweeping tariffs and his immigration policies, to name a few examples.

Portia Allen-Kyle, a civil rights attorney and interim executive director at the racial justice organization Color Of Change, said that Barkley’s response suggesting that his time with Trump wasn’t about “politics” is missing this key point: His visit with Trump is in itself inherently political.

“It is political and we would be wrong to pretend otherwise,” she told HuffPost. “Barkley’s framing is disingenuous. Trump’s presence, his policies, and his rhetoric are all deeply political and deeply polarizing.”

“Millions of people — including Eagles fans — are living with the consequences of those policies every day — whether it’s attacks on the freedom to vote, reproductive health, or our civil rights,” she continued. “Barkley might not feel that impact from where he sits, but that doesn’t make it any less real. His ‘respect for the office’ defense doesn’t erase the harm being done from that office.”

“Acting like this was just a neutral outing is gaslighting — and people know better,” she added.

“The backlash was strong because, to many, it felt like a betrayal,” Allen-Kyle said. “Saquon Barkley is a public figure and Super Bowl champion who many see as a source of pride — especially in Black and working-class communities.”

When people saw Barkley, who is Black, golfing with Trump, who is “actively harming our communities,” it struck a nerve, she said.

“For a lot of people, Barkley’s actions signaled that he can afford to ignore what they’re being forced to live through,” she continued. “That’s where the disappointment lies. But for every Saquon we should recognize that there’s a Jalen Hurts, or a Colin [Kaepernick] who put their careers on the line for justice.”

Allen-Kyle later said she doesn’t think that public figures, like Barkley, who have chosen to engage with Trump for social purposes, can truly separate the president from his policies. “No amount of wealth or access makes you immune to the consequences of complicity when you’re a Black man in America,” she said.

She said that while the “outrage can’t stop with Saquon” — and that the people who deserve the most scrutiny are “the billionaires, political donors and corporate leaders who are actively funding and enabling” Trump’s presidency — public figures like Barkley aren’t off the hook, either.

“When you have a massive platform and benefit from the support of Black communities, you can’t afford to be politically naive or neutral,” she said. “Choosing to align yourself, even passively, with someone attacking those very communities sends a message of indifference to the harm being caused by those in power.”