--- title: Man Kneels During the National Anthem at White House Event description: An unidentified man knelt in protest during the national anthem at a White House event arranged by President Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5302413/white-house-national-anthem-kneel/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-05T22:17:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:28:52.015Z article:section: Politics og:title: Man Kneels During the National Anthem At President Trump's White House Event og:description: Trump held the event after uninviting the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House og:url: https://time.com/5302413/white-house-national-anthem-kneel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ed32092aaf2dd7/6989325a656a3f4f26bd49ed/gettyimages-967855910.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Holds "Celebration Of America" Event On South Lawn Of White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Man Kneels During the National Anthem At President Trump's White House Event twitter:description: Trump held the event after uninviting the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ed32092aaf2dd7/6989325a656a3f4f26bd49ed/gettyimages-967855910.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Man Kneels During the National Anthem at President Trump's White House Event > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 5, 2018 10:17 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump concludes his remarks during a "Celebration of America" event on the south lawn of the White House June 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. The event, originally intended to honor the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was changed after the majority of the team declined to attend the event due to a disagreement with Trump over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump concludes his remarks during a "Celebration of America" event on the south lawn of the White House June 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. The event, originally intended to honor the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was changed after the majority of the team declined to attend the event due to a disagreement with Trump over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump concludes his remarks during a "Celebration of America" event on the south lawn of the White House June 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. The event, originally intended to honor the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was changed after the majority of the team declined to attend the event due to a disagreement with Trump over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Jun 5, 2018 10:17 PM UTC A man was seen kneeling while the national anthem played during a White House ceremony organized by President Trump after he [disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from the traditional championship celebration](http://time.com/5301170/philadelphia-eagles-not-attend-white-house-super-bowl-celebration-national-anthem/) on Tuesday. The unidentified man was spotted kneeling during national anthem at Trump’s “Celebration of America.” He left after the anthem ended and did not comment to press, a Danish reporter who was at the event tweeted. Video footage of the man shows him getting up after the anthem ends. > [](https://twitter.com/zolckTv2/status/1004078459910606848) The man’s kneeling protest comes amid the on-going controversy over whether [NFL players can kneel during the national anthem](http://time.com/5301170/philadelphia-eagles-not-attend-white-house-super-bowl-celebration-national-anthem/) in protest of police brutality. In May, the NFL said it would fine players who choose to kneel on the field during the anthem. The White House event on Tuesday was held in place of a traditional ceremony where the president welcomes that year’s Super Bowl champions. After several Philadelphia Eagles players said they would not attend the celebration, citing Trump’s consistent criticism of athletes who kneel in protest, Trump said he was disinviting them due to their disagreement with him. Trump has frequently tweeted [criticism of athletes and NFL players who kneel](http://time.com/5301572/nflpa-responds-donald-trump-criticizes-eagles/), painting them as unpatriotic and calling for them to be fired. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5302413/white-house-national-anthem-kneel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5302413/white-house-national-anthem-kneel/"},"headline":"Man Kneels During the National Anthem at President Trump's White House Event","datePublished":"2018-06-05T22:17:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:28:52.015Z","description":"Trump held the event after uninviting the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House","url":"https://time.com/5302413/white-house-national-anthem-kneel/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ed32092aaf2dd7/6989325a656a3f4f26bd49ed/gettyimages-967855910.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt44ed32092aaf2dd7/6989325a656a3f4f26bd49ed/gettyimages-967855910.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Holds \"Celebration Of America\" Event On South Lawn Of White House","caption":"President Trump Holds \"Celebration Of America\" Event On South Lawn Of White House","creditText":"WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: U.S. President Donald Trump concludes his remarks during a \"Celebration of America\" event on the south lawn of the White House June 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. 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