Cubs’ Albert Almora Jr. Denies Flipping Off Donald Trump During White House Visit

The Chicago Cubs visited the White House on Wednesday and took photos with President Donald Trump, and one member of the 2016 World Series-wining team has denied accusations that he subtly directed an obscene gesture at the commander-in-chief.

Defending World Series Champion Cubs visit White House

Albert Almora Jr. vehemently denied flipping off President Trump after photos surfaced of the Cubs meeting with the leader of the free world in the Oval Office. In one of the pictures, the 23-year-old outfielder appears to be displaying an upside-down middle finger while putting part of his left hand in his pocket.

After close-ups of the image began spreading on social media, Almora quickly insisted the gesture was unintentional and that he was holding two fingers upside-down, although this is difficult to see in the photo:

“Guys were giving me a hard time about it,” Almora said, “but I pointed out the second finger. We’re all good.”

One of his teammates defended him. “There was two fingers! Look closely, there was two fingers!” the player said, according to CSN Chicago.

Almora then called the incident “unfortunate.”

“I would never do that to the president of the United States,” he said per the Chicago Sun-Times. “I respect everybody. It is what it is. We laugh about it now, but there’s definitely two fingers out there.”

The Cubs — who are 39-39 thus far this season and second in the NL Central — previously visited the East Room of the White House in January with former president Barack Obama to celebrate their first national title in 108 years. On Wednesday, the team primarily visited the West Wing before losing to the Nationals 4-8 in Washington, D.C.

“This is a great team,” Trump told reporters of the 2016 World Series champions as he talked to the team in the Roosevelt Room along with the Series trophy. “They were actually here, but they wanted to be here with Trump.”

The former real estate mogul and reality television star then made a slight joke. “Your team’s doing ok?” he said. “But you’re going to do great starting now, right?”

The Cubs presented Trump, the 45th U.S. President, with his very own customized jersey with the No. 45 and his last name on the back, as well as a “45” scoreboard placard.

Trump also made an unexpected request: he asked for Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert to pose with him and the Cubs. This seems particularly strange and awkward because the Cavs lost this year’s NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, while the Cubs defeated Cleveland’s MLB team — the Indians — to win the 2016 World Series in November.

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 28: U.S. President Donald Trump is presented with a personalized baseball jersey during an event in the Oval Office to honor the 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs at the White House, on June 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in last year’s World Series ending the team’s 108-year championship drought. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)