Lionel Messi Slammed For Reaction When Donald Trump Spoke About US Conflict With IranLionel MessiFollowLikeLink copied to clipboardAdd us on4By Rob SwanMar 6, 2026, 8:17 AM GMTLionel Messi has received strong criticism for his reaction when Donald Trump spoke about the United States’ ongoing bombing of Iran.Messi and his Inter Miami teammates were invited to the White House to meet the US President on Thursday following December’s Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup final win over Vancouver Whitecaps.Various clips from the meeting have been widely shared on social media, including Messi’s reaction when Trump mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo’s name while speaking to him. Inter Miami’s squad were also asked whether Messi or Pele – the player Trump said is the greatest player of all time last summer – is the superior footballer.But during a far more serious moment, Trump provided an update on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.The US and Israel launched a joint-attack on Iran last weekend, with Trump calling for a regime change after carrying out “major combat operations”. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded by launching missiles and drones towards Israel, as well as striking the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.Donald TrumpRelatedExpert Reveals Condition Which Could See World Cup Postponed Amid US ConflictBy Hal FishSpeaking in front of Inter Miami’s players, including Messi, Trump said, per the New York Times: “The U.S. military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule.”Trump continued. “We are destroying more of Iran’s missiles and drone capability every single hour … We want to fight now more than they do. We’ve had 47 years, depending on the way you count it, 47 years of horror with this group.”He added: “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%, Soleimani and Iran.“Other presidents lived with it, I didn’t live with it. Our people are doing a great job. Again, the greatest military anyone’s seen. Thank you.”Messi Slammed For Clapping TrumpLionel Messi and Donald TrumpLionel Messi and Donald TrumpIn response, sports journalist Leyla Hamed posted a strong tweet, criticising Messi and his teammates for reacting to Trump’s words with applause. She wrote: “Donald Trump casually announces more illegal bombing of Iran in front of the entire Inter Miami squad.“Hundreds of children have been killed in Iran in the last few days. Lionel Messi and his teammates respond with applause. Bizarre.”Some of the responses to the tweet are in complete agreement. Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed wrote: “Truly disgusting. First Ronaldo and second Messi applauding. Football is dead. Messi and Ronaldo are finishing off their careers with a deplorable and unprofessional chapter.”However, others have shown sympathy towards Messi, who recently admitted that he wishes he’d learned English when he was younger.He told the ‘Miro de Atras’ podcast, per Goal: “To not have learned English as a boy. I had the time to have at least studied English and I didn’t do it. I deeply regret it. I experienced situations where I was with incredible and spectacular personalities to be able to talk and have a chat and you feel half ignorant.”I always thought: ‘What an idiot, how I wasted my time.’ When you’re young, you don’t realise it. Today that’s what I tell my children, [the importance of] having a good education, to study and be prepared. I always tell my children to take advantage of it. They have a different situation to the one I had, although I never lacked anything…”Another X user wrote in response to Hamed’s tweet: “I’m a Ronaldo fan and could easily jump on this and say Messi is a bad person but he doesn’t even understand English. He probably just saw everyone applauding and went with it.”However, when another person commented: “Some fellow Messi fans saying ‘he doesn’t understand what Trump’s saying’. Probably doesn’t, but ‘Iran’ was mentioned and he and the others have seen what’s been happening the last few days so still not an excuse,” Hamed replied: “Exactly. The world knows who Trump is. People need to stop infantilising athletes seriously.”FootballLionel MessiLionel MessiInter Miami CFInter Miami CFFollowLikeShareThreadWe want to hear from you! Share your opinions in the thread below and remember to keep it respectful.Be the first to postThis thread is open for discussion.Be the first to post your thoughts
Leave a Reply