President Donald Trump rescinding the invitation to the entire Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles was viewed as suggesting that in Mr. Trump’s America, the president will accept nothing short of full agreement with his worldview.

When Mr. Trump discovered that most Eagles players would not attend the ceremony, he disinvited the entire team less than 24 hours before they were expected to arrive.

“They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.

Mr. Trump is seen as having never demonstrated that he understands the argument of those protesting racism and as a result, continues to incorrectly characterize the position of the NFL players. In doing so, the president ultimately ends up reminding many voters of his own perceived ignorance about the history of black people in America.

But perhaps these are irrelevant when tribalism is what matters most. In the debate over whether it is appropriate for NFL players to take a knee to protest racism during the national anthem, Mr. Trump has emerged as the ultimate culture warrior. In addition to calling the athletes “sons of bitches” last fall, he suggested recently that maybe they should leave America.

Vice President Mike Pence flew across the country to an Indianapolis Colts games only to leave minutes after entering the stadium when the players knelt. It was largely seen as a publicity stunt but earned the vice president credence from his boss.

In turn, locker room and board rooms have faced uncomfortable conversations. Many athletes, Democratic politicians, black activists and fans urged the league to take on Mr. Trump and back the players. At the first, the NFL stood by kneeling players and said they had a right to protest.

The NFL said last month that players on the field for the national anthem would have to stand; those not interested in standing for the patriotic tune could stay in the locker room, in a move widely seen as a capitulation to Mr. Trump to stem bad publicity and fears of declining attendance.

“He’s 100 percent beaten the NFL into submission,” said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide. “It’s quite a smart move for him because he opens the White House to the fans while making it about the national anthem.”

Mr. Trump critics say the decision by African-American football players to skip a White House visit makes sense given the president’s history of racially charged positions, including frequently questioning the birth certificate of then-President Barack Obama, his campaign rhetoric on Muslims and immigrants, his handling of deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, to his labeling African countries as “shithole countries” and saying he preferred Norwegian immigrants over Haitians during an Oval Office meeting in January.

“It shouldn’t be hard to understand why black players might not want to go to the house and shake the hand of or hang out with someone who made excuses for white supremacists in Charlottesville and has attacked their teammates,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change, an online civil rights group which has supported the protesting NFL players.

What Tuesday’s White House statement didn’t mention is the fact that the Eagles are one of the few teams that had no players take a knee or stay in the locker room during the anthem.

There was a notable protest from Malcolm Jenkins, a star strong safety for the Eagles, who started raising his fist during the national anthem during the 2016 season but said he’d discontinue his protest after the NFL pledged to contribute around $100 million to charities and causes that are important to African-American communities.

Mr. Jenkins and Eagles defensive end Chris Long spoke out again recently when the NFL owners announced their new rules about stadium protests.

“I will not let it silence me or stop me from fighting,” Mr. Jenkins said on Instagram.

Perhaps it was this spirit, in addition to Mr. Jenkins’ and others planned absence, that riled Mr. Trump most - and led him to make a decision that seemed aimed at preventing embarrassment.

But it ultimately just makes him look authoritarian and thin-skinned to his critics.

“Disinviting them from the White House only proves that our President is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party which no one wants to attend,” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement.

While Mr. Trump might think he saved himself the embarrassment of having a small turnout from the Eagles, he now has to face the ramifications of being perceived as the type of president who more or less requires full compliance to his views on race, patriotism and activism.

According to a Washington Post poll, most Americans say it is never appropriate to kneel during the anthem. But a majority of Americans think players should be allowed to kneel and oppose firing them for protesting. A 2017 Pew Research Center poll found that nearly eight in 10 - 79 percent - of Americans believed that the right to conduct nonviolent protests was essential for an effective democracy, and the vast majority - 74 percent - support protecting the rights of those with unpopular views.

Several outlets are reporting that the cancellation came after the Eagles asked to reschedule the event.

Mr. Trump’s response isn’t seen as commensurating with a scheduling conflict. And regardless of the reason behind it, Mr. Trump appeared to use the opportunity to again inflame the cultural debate that’s a hit with his base and cements divisions in the country on race.

Mr. Trump on Tuesday led a crowd of hundreds in a rendition of the national anthem on the South Lawn of the White House as he sought to capitalize politically on the latest flash point in his racially charged culture war with the National Football League.

Nate Boyer, a former NFL player and U.S. Army Green Beret, said Mr. Trump has successfully turned protests that the players had hoped would spark a conversation over criminal justice reform into a false debate over patriotism. Mr. Boyer had consulted with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who initiated the protests two seasons ago, and helped convince him to take a knee in respect for U.S. troops instead of sitting on the bench during the anthem.

“We’re not even talking about what these protests were about,” Mr. Boyer said. “Trump’s winning in that regard.”

On the South Lawn, Mr. Trump, dressed in a dark suit and bright-red tie, placed his right hand over his heart and appeared to sing along as the Marine band played the anthem. A crowd mostly wearing business attire assembled for the event, with few signs of Eagles regalia in evidence.

In his remarks, Mr. Trump said that standing for the anthem is intended to honor the country, the military, troops who died in combat and “our magnificent Constitution.”

But Mr. Trump also used his speech to pay tribute to himself, touting low unemployment rates and asserting that the United States “has never done better than it’s doing right now. Never. We have record numbers at every outpost.”

The band played “God Bless America” after Mr. Trump finished speaking, with the president briefly mouthing a couple verses before switching to nodding along.

First Published: June 8, 2018, 4:00 p.m.