President Donald Trump has said he will invite the Philadelphia Eagles to the White House to celebrate their recent Super Bowl win, despite rumours that the champions may decline the invitation.

“Absolutely, they’ll be extended an invitation,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “They deserve to be down here, and we hope to see them.”

The Eagles skipped a visit to the White House when they won in 2018, but the team plans to attend the event this year, US media report.

Rumours of the Eagles declining an invitation to the White House created a firestorm on social media after a weeks-old report from The US Sun resurfaced online.

The Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 earlier this month, securing the team’s second Super Bowl.

Sports teams visiting the White House after winning a championship is a tradition that dates back to the 19th Century, but in the past decades some have used it to make a statement.

Only one of the four teams that won the Super Bowl during Trump’s first term in office made a trip to the White House. That was the New England Patriots in 2017.

The Philadelphia Eagles did not go to the White House after their victory in 2018.

The president said at the time that the players disagreed with his view “that they proudly stand for the national anthem”, although the team or players never confirmed that as the reason.

Instead, Trump invited a group of Eagles fans to a “celebration of the American flag”.

In 2017, NBA champions the Golden State Warriors were uninvited from the White House event by Trump after star player Stephen Curry said he did not want to go. The Warriors were not invited when they won the NBA Championship again in 2018.

There were, however, some memorable sporting visits to the White House under Trump. He famously welcomed Clemson University’s football team in 2018 with burgers from McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other fast food restaurants.