Lionel Messi, quizá el futbolista más famoso del mundo, nunca habla de política públicamente.

La semana pasada, en un encuentro con el presidente Donald Trump, mantuvo ese silencio, pero eso no impidió que la estrella argentina terminara arrastrado al centro de un acalorado debate político en su país.

Messi sonrió tímidamente en una visita a la Casa Blanca con su equipo de la liga de Estados Unidos, el Inter de Miami, después de que Trump aprovechara la ocasión para hablar de la demolición del ejército iraní y del cambio de régimen en Cuba, lo que convirtió una celebración de rutina de la victoria del Inter de Miami en la Copa MLS 2025 en una tormenta de fuego polarizante.

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El presidente de Argentina, Javier Milei, aliado clave del gobierno de Trump, celebró el saludo entre el héroe futbolístico más célebre de su país y Trump. Al mismo tiempo, los críticos de Trump acusaron a Messi de acercarse al controvertido presidente estadounidense.

“Fue como una cachetada”, escribió Ángel Cappa, exfutbolista y exentrenador argentino y comentarista veterano, en una entrada de su blog titulada “Qué lástima, Messi”.

En sus dos décadas de carrera futbolística, Messi se ha esforzado por mantenerse al margen de la política, y no ha hecho ningún comentario sobre el acto de la Casa Blanca. Los representantes del Inter de Miami no respondieron a una solicitud de comentarios.

Algunos equipos y atletas estadounidenses han renunciado a visitar la Casa Blanca para evitar reunirse con presidentes con los que no están de acuerdo o verse envueltos en el tipo de escrutinio al que se ha enfrentado Messi.

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En las redes sociales, en los periódicos y en los programas de radio y televisión, los argentinos han realizado un examen casi forense del lenguaje corporal de Messi durante el encuentro con Trump para analizar lo incómodo o cómodo que parecía durante el discurso del presidente estadounidense.

El compromiso por décadas de Messi con la neutralidad política pareció ser en vano cuando argentinos de izquierda y derecha lo reclutaron en las filas del trumpismo.

“Hasta el máximo ídolo nacional argentino es de derecha”, escribió en X Agustín Laje, un conocido intelectual argentino de derecha.

El debate se extendió más allá de las fronteras de Argentina. Pero entre las figuras más notorias que politizaron el encuentro está Milei, quien, tras elogiar al campeón de fútbol durante años, parecía haber encontrado por fin la forma de utilizarlo como pólvora estelar contra sus enemigos de la izquierda.

“La única izquierda que sirve es la de Messi”, publicó Milei en redes sociales, refiriéndose al futbolista zurdo mientras atacaba a la izquierda política.

Milei reeditó un video de televisión de 2018 en el que defendía apasionadamente a Messi de las críticas que recibió después de la eliminación prematura de Argentina en el Mundial de 2018. Vilipendió a los críticos en una publicación, en la que se lee: “Aman a Maduro, Hamas y Cuba. Odian a Messi. Son el mal”.

Como Milei ha intentado erigirse en un líder mundial de la derecha, lleva mucho tiempo tratando de asociarse con la celebridad internacional más reconocida de Argentina. Pero hasta ahora no ha logrado hacerse una foto con Messi, el capitán de la selección nacional masculina.

Para Pablo Alabarces, sociólogo argentino, la foto de Messi con Trump representa una satisfacción indirecta para Milei, pues posiciona al futbolista en la extrema derecha.

Otros expertos en fútbol trataron de restar importancia al debate. Andrés Cantor –la voz futbolística de Telemundo, el gigante estadounidense de los medios de comunicación en español– señaló que Messi era el capitán de un equipo que recibía un premio de manos de un presidente que ni siquiera era el suyo.

Cantor señaló que el jefe de Messi es el propietario del equipo, y que tanto él como sus compañeros habían recibido una invitación de la Casa Blanca y habían respondido a ella. Agregó que esa visita no dejaba en claro de que lado de la política se encontraba Messi.

(Tampoco quedó claro qué tanto entendieron el discurso de Trump los jugadores, pues el inglés no es la lengua materna de muchos de ellos, incluido Messi).

Otra asociación de la que Messi ha luchado por escapar es la que tiene con su predecesor como máximo icono futbolístico del país, Diego Armando Maradona. El astro del fútbol, quien falleció en 2020, era deslumbrante en el campo, pero una figura polarizante fuera de la cancha. Cultivó una imagen de defensor de izquierda de los pobres, delineada por el barrio obrero en el que creció.

Por años, el triunfo de Maradona en la Copa del Mundo de 1986 le dio ventaja en el debate sobre quién era el mejor jugador de Argentina, pero cuando Messi llevó a Argentina a ganar la Copa del Mundo de 2022, se zanjó el asunto.

Las comparaciones resurgieron tras la visita a la Casa Blanca. En la página de Instagram de Messi, un comentario con decenas de miles de “me gusta” decía: “Gracias por darle la mano a Trump. Así ya queda bien claro por qué el Diego es lo más grande que hay”.

La protesta se hizo mayor por el hecho de que Messi y sus compañeros de equipo no visitaran el palacio presidencial argentino tras la victoria de Argentina en el Mundial de 2022, cuando era presidente Alberto Fernández, político de centro-izquierda. Fernández dijo esta semana en un canal de YouTube sobre fútbol que el gobierno no les pidió que fueran.

Incluso algunos expertos que estaban dispuestos a conceder a Messi el beneficio de la duda sobre su reunión con Trump dijeron que había algo fuera de lugar en mezclar el fútbol y una conferencia presidencial sobre la aniquilación militar.

*Emma Bubola es reportera del Times que cubre Argentina desde Buenos Aires.

*Lucía Cholakian Herrera colaboró con reportería.

The ghost of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has struck again. This time, even though he died in 2019, his is still adding to the stress and criticism of the World Economic Forum.

On Feb. 26, WEF president and CEO Børge Brende resigned after revelations that he had three dinners, and some emails and SMS communications with Epstein. His ouster followed an independent investigation earlier in February. 

Brende said he wasn’t aware of Epstein’s sex crimes. 

«Had I known about his background, I would have declined the initial invitation to join Rod-Larsen and any subsequent dinner invitations or other communications,» he said.

That response hasn’t been well received by observers, given that Epstein’s conviction occurred in 2008 and would have been easy to uncover. As Norway’s foreign minister from 2013 to 2017, perhaps he should have been more cautious, some observers say.

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«If you are standing on a public stage, you have to know who you are standing with,» said Ben Habib, right-leaning leader of the British political party Advance UK, and an entrepreneur.

Founder of the U.K.-based Henry Jackson Society, Alan Mendoza, added, «The moral is that people in positions of authority should be very careful with whom they have dinner. Mendoza also wonders how many people with a criminal record have attended the WEF.

The news of Brende’s resignation comes hot on the heels of other scandals and bad publicity for the WEF, commonly known as Davos, after the Swiss village in the Alps where the annual meeting takes place. Last year, Klaus Schwab, the founder of the WEF, stepped down in July after accusations that he had misused WEF funds and treated employees inappropriately. 

Jeffrey Epstein is seen in Cambridge, Mass., on Sept. 8, 2004. The financier had ties to several prominent figures, including politicians, actors and academics, and was later convicted of soliciting sex from a minor. (Rick Friedman Photography/Corbis via Getty Images)

Both Schwab and his wife were both ultimately cleared by the WEF board for any material wrongdoing, though a board of trustees statement noted in part that, «Minor irregularities, stemming from blurred lines between personal contributions and Forum operations, reflect deep commitment rather than intent of misconduct.»

Others have a beef with the WEF. Two years ago, Argentina’s President Javier Milei spoke at Davos.

«The Western world is in danger,» Millei said. «It is in danger because those who are supposed to have to defend the values of the West are co-opted by a vision of the world that inexorably leads to socialism, and thereby to poverty.»

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File photograph of WEF Executive Chairman and founder Klaus Schwab addressing attendees during the official opening session of the Annual Meeting 2016 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich (Ruben Sprich/ Reuters)

Milei also noted that many countries have ditched freedom for collectivism, a.k.a., socialism.

«We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world; rather, they are the root cause,» he said at Davos in 2024.

Since 2023, when Milei took office as Argentina’s president, inflation has dropped from more than 200% to 32%, according to data from Trading Economics.

Likewise, others have a lot to tell the WEF, most of it not positive.

«Globalization has failed the West and the United States of America,» said U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at this year’s Davos meeting. «It’s a failed policy. It is what the WEF has stood for.»

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The fact is, America has been left behind in the global economy as the WEF has encouraged offshoring manufacturing to places with cheap labor, Lutnick said. He also encouraged other countries to follow the «America First» model, which is that the workers come first.

Lutnick also attacked Europe’s alternative energy push, which includes solar and wind energy. «Why would Europe agree to be net zero in 2030 when they don’t make a battery? he said at Davos. Achieving net zero means countries aim to have no increase in overall carbon emissions by 2050.

Pedestrians walk past the USA House during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Alpine resort of Davos on January 19, 2026. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images)

But if Europe does pursue Net zero, then the EU will be subservient to communist China, Lutnick says. China is by far the dominant producer, accounting for approximately one-third of global renewable energy, compared with 11% in the U.S.

«The WEF is the embodiment of power and wealth,» Habib said. «Big money is diverting policy. It’s fascism.» He says the world may have been tricked into believing the economic promises made by globalist organizations. «The shine is now off. It is failing and not gaining traction.»

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The WEF isn’t the only organization that is running roughshod over multiple countries. The European Union is also doing similar work with the countries in its bloc through a multitude of regulations, Habib said.

THE Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Obama Foundation is looking for 100 unpaid volunteers to work alongside the former president’s highly paid cronies at the $850 million Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when it opens in June.

Officials are pitching the no-paycheck gigs as rooted in former President Barack Obama’s legacy of civic engagement. The recruitment campaign comes after Fox News Digital reported that the organization’s CEO, former top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, earned $740,000 in 2024.

Foundation officials told Fox News Digital the volunteers will complement about 300 full- and part-time employees at the long-delayed center, which the organization is promoting as a $3.1 billion economic catalyst for the Windy City’s South Side.

The new program will see 75 to 100 volunteers, known as «ambassadors,» greet and direct visitors around the campus and share information about exhibits at the 22-story museum tower, athletic center and Chicago Public Library branch, among other amenities. It is expected to expand in the future. 

The foundation describes the volunteer program as a key component of its mission, saying volunteers represent its values both onsite and in the community.

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It is unclear what the salary range for those paid workers will be. However, the foundation’s most recent tax filings provide insight into compensation at the organization’s senior levels.

Federal filings viewed by Fox News Digital show Jarrett earned $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials have collected six-figure salaries as foundation executives.

Total salaries and benefits at the foundation climbed from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024 as staffing expanded to 337 employees and annual revenue reached nearly $210 million, according to the filings. The foundation’s main office is located in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where it runs leadership and community programs in the U.S. and abroad.

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Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, left, and the Obama Presidential Center under construction in Chicago’s Jackson Park, right. The Foundation reported nearly $210 million in total revenue in 2024, according to federal filings. (Fox 32; Steven Ferdman/Getty)

Still, the foundation is looking to have a cohort of unpaid volunteers help out at the new presidential center. It’s common for presidential libraries, museums and nonprofit cultural institutions to employ unpaid volunteers.

«Volunteerism has been central to President Obama’s vision of civic life since his earliest days as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side,» the foundation said in a press release.

Jarrett, one of the Obamas’ closest advisors, said in a statement that the center will be «a place where the world meets the best of the city of Chicago, and our volunteers will help bring that vision to life every day.»

She became CEO in 2021 and is overseeing development of the 19.3-acre campus in Jackson Park.

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The foundation has promoted the center as a catalyst for economic revitalization on Chicago’s South Side, citing $3.1 billion in projected economic activity over 10 years and 5,000 construction jobs tied to the $850 million campus. Those figures come from an economic assessment conducted by Deloitte Consulting LLP.

According to the foundation, more than 50% of construction contracts have been awarded to diverse firms, 33% of the construction workforce has come from South and West Side communities, and 798 residents have enrolled in construction pre-apprenticeship programs.

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The main tower of the Obama Presidential Center rises above Jackson Park in Chicago as construction continues on the privately run campus. (Fox 32 Chicago)

The center is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Other former Obama administration officials have also earned substantial compensation at the foundation in past years, including former White House political director David Simas, who earned more than $600,000 annually while leading the organization from 2017 to 2020, and Adewale Adeyemo, who later became Biden’s deputy Treasury secretary and earned roughly $540,000 during his tenure. 

Several other senior leaders with Obama administration ties have earned between roughly $300,000 and $400,000 annually, according to tax filings.