The Giants are refuting President Donald Trump’s assertion that he advised team members, including head coach Brian Daboll, to prevent Saquon Barkley from leaving for the Eagles when he became a free agent in 2024.

Trump made the comments during the Eagles’ visit to the White House on Monday to celebrate their Super Bowl victory earlier this year. 

Giants’ vice president of communications, Pat Hanlon, countered this claim to Front Office Sports, stating that there were no discussions between the President and the Giants regarding Barkley.

When pressed for confirmation of any such interaction or if the team planned to issue a statement, Hanlon responded with a definitive “no.”

FOS also reported that Hanlon then directed them to a post he made on his personal X account.

“With all due respect, stop yapping. Be the leader we all want you to be. And my 401K wants you to be. I’m trying to retire!!” he wrote on the social media platform while tagging Trump. 

The president had originally talked about a conversation he had with the Giants about Barkley earlier in the day. 

“I was with the Giants and the head coach and some people and I said, ‘Do anything you have to, but don’t lose Saquon.’” Trump said. “They lost Saquon. That was not good. I called that one. That was an easy one to call because he played damn well for the Giants, I can tell you that.”

Barkley left the Giants last offseason and signed with their biggest rivals, the Eagles, immediately leading the Birds to a Super Bowl championship in his first year in Philly. 

The running back signed a two-year, $41.2 million contract extension last month with the Eagles. 

Trump had heaped loads of praise on Barkley during the White House ceremony after having spent the day with the NFL star on Sunday, golfing at his course in Bedminster, New Jersey, before hitching a ride to Washington D.C. with the president on Air Force One later in the day. 

Barkley had been criticized by people on social media for spending time with the Trump, and he fired back at them on Monday, posting on X, “Maybe I just respect the office, not a hard concept to understand.”