A White House celebration of the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles has been called off by President Donald Trump, who says fans deserve better than the smaller delegation the team was sending to the event planned for Tuesday.

Trump is citing the dispute over whether NFL players protesting racial injustice must stand during the playing of the national anthem.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney criticized Trump as "not a true patriot" and "a fragile egomaniac" after the Eagles were disinvited from the White House on Monday.

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In a statement issued Monday less than 24 hours before the event, Trump says some members of the team disagree with his insistence that they "proudly stand" for the national anthem in honor of military veterans and the nation as a whole.

Trump says a different ceremony will honor veterans and the nation instead at the White House on Tuesday.