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Trump invites USWNT to WH after Rapinoe barb

President Donald Trump has invited the U.S. women's soccer team to the White House, regardless of whether they win the World Cup, after Megan Rapinoe's assertion that she is "not going to the f---ing White House."

Rapinoe, who has described herself as a "walking protest" to Trump's policies, made her recent comments about a potential White House visit to soccer magazine Eight by Eight.

"I'm not going to the f---ing White House," Rapinoe, the team's co-captain, said during the interview, which was posted to the magazine's Twitter account Tuesday. "No. I'm not going to the White House. We're not going to be invited. I doubt it."

Trump responded Wednesday morning with a series of tweets.

Trump called out Rapinoe earlier this week for her protests during the national anthem, telling The Hill in an interview Monday that he disagrees with her actions.

After Rapinoe started kneeling during the anthem, the U.S. Soccer Federation adopted a policy that requires players to stand during it. Now she stands, but she has been criticized for not singing and putting her hand over her heart like other players.

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Rapinoe, who scored two goals Monday against Spain to help the U.S. reach the World Cup quarterfinals, previously stated that she would "absolutely not" visit the White House in an interview last month with Sports Illustrated.

"I am not going to fake it, hobnob with the president, who is clearly against so many of the things that I am (for) and so many of the things that I actually am," Rapinoe told SI. "I have no interest in extending our platform to him."

Fellow U.S. star Alex Morgan also has said she would decline an invitation to the White House, telling Time Magazine that she doesn't "stand for a lot of things the current office stands for."

"We don't have to be put in this little box," Morgan told Time in an interview published last month. "There's the narrative that's been said hundreds of times about any sort of athlete who's spoken out politically. 'Stick to sports.' We're much more than that, OK?"

U.S. teammate Ali Krieger tweeted in support of Rapinoe on Wednesday afternoon.

Rapinoe, Morgan and the U.S. team will face host nation France in a World Cup quarterfinal Friday in Paris. Rapinoe is set to address the media Thursday.

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