Here, on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday afternoon, there was to have been a celebration honoring the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but it turned out very few Eagles actually wanted to be celebrated by Trump. So Trump, to spare himself the snub, disinvited the team because, he said, they disagree with him about standing for the national anthem – even though all members of the Eagles stood for the anthem all season long.
Instead, Trump declared a "Celebration of America." He ordered the U.S. Marine Band and the U.S. Army Chorus to "loudly and proudly play the national anthem" – or, presumably, face court-martial if they played pianissimo.
In addition to channeling the dead, Trump channeled monarchs of yore, referring to himself in the third person: "The Philadelphia Eagles … disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the national anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military," the man who received five draft deferments said in a written statement.
Championship-winning players have in recent years snubbed both Trump and President Barack Obama by declining White House invitations. But canceling an event because of an anticipated snub is consistent with Trump's you-can't-fire-me-because-I-quit approach. He canceled a trip to Britain when it was clear there would be massive protests. He disbanded his corporate advisory councils as chief executives were resigning in droves.
In fairness, though, Trump has a history with eagles. During an August 2015 photo shoot for Time magazine, a 27-year-old bald eagle by the name of Uncle Sam lunged at Trump – causing Trump to dive out of the frame.
Before the event, the White House put out a statement saying "the vast majority of the Eagles team decided to abandon their fans." But the 1,000 or so who came to the event were a suspicious group of football fans: almost all in business suits and only a few wearing Eagles paraphernalia. One attendee said all workers in the White House complex were invited to attend the event but were told to hide their credentials – the better to impersonate Eagles fans.