The former Leeds United man was at the White House with his Juventus teammates.
Former Leeds United midfielder Weston McKennie was part of a Juventus delegation that stood behind US president Donald Trump on Wednesday as he addressed issues from conflict in the Middle East to transgender participation in sport.
McKennie and his Juventus teammates are in the United States for this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup, where they kicked things off with a 5-0 thumping of United Arab Emirates-based side Al Ain overnight. But in the build-up to that game a group of players and staff were invited to the White House by Trump, who was due to address the media.
The former Leeds loanee stood alongside teammates such as Timothy Weah, Teun Koopmeiners, Dusan Vlahovic and head coach Igor Tudor as Trump was given a Juventus shirt. But the group were then awkwardly dragged into the president’s media address regarding the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.
“It’s interesting as I did ask Tucker and said are you ok with nuclear weapons being in the hands of Iran? He didn’t like that and I said if it’s ok with you, me and you have a difference,” Trump told American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson as McKennie and his teammates stood awkwardly.
“But it’s really not ok with him and you may have to fight. Maybe it will end and end very quickly. There’s no way whether you fight or not that you can allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon because the entire world will blow up and I am not going to let that happen.”
Trump then attempted to involve the professional footballers behind him in another sensitive topic, having signed an executive order in February banning transgender participants from women’s sports. “Could a woman make your team, fellas?” Trump asked a visibly nervous group of Juventus players, none of whom offered a response before Juventus’s general manager, Damien Comolli said: “We have a very good women’s team.”
Trump continued to push the issue on those behind him, however, and asked “but they should be playing with women.” Comolli did not answer which the President met with “He’s being very diplomatic.” McKennie and his Juventus teammates looked far from comfortable throughout the exchanges.
How has Weston McKennie got on since leaving Leeds United?
It’s been three years since McKennie’s ill-fated Leeds loan came to an end following Premier League relegation in 2023 - and the American has enjoyed something of a renaissance since. Jesse Marsch signed his compatriot on loan in a desperate bid to add experience but he was sacked a week later, with the midfielder registering just one assist in 19 appearances.
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But in the two seasons since, McKennie has been a first-team regular for Juventus and he even captained the Serie A side to Club World Cup victory overnight. It’s a big turnaround from a Leeds spell many, including the player himself, would admit did not go to plan.
“Okay I will say this, Leeds as a club, the people within the club I liked,” McKennie told CBS Sports Golazo in December last year. “The city itself and the surroundings were a little bit hard. It was always grey, I had a sunlight window in my house and there was never any sun coming through.
“No Sunday roast, no nothing. I was alone. My area was like no area, nothing around. I went up to see Harry Potter world which was like an hour away. That’s it, that’s all I did, and golf.”
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