June 18 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed members of the Italian Juventus Club World Cup team to the Oval Office as he spoke about a range of topics, including transgender athletes. The team, which includes Americans Timothy Weah and Weston McKennie, appeared in the White House before playing Al Ain of the United Arab Emrites at Washington, D.C.'s, Audi Field on Wednesday night. Thirty-two teams are competing from last Saturday to July 13 in the United States. Also on hand were FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Juventus club executives, former player Giorgio Chiellini and head coach Igor Tudor. They stood behind the president. Trump turned around and asked them: "Could a woman make your team, fellas." They smiled nervously and didn't respond. Juventus' general manager Damien Comolli finally said: "We have a very good women's team." They are the reigning Serie A champions. "But they should be playing with women," Trump said as Comolli looked at the floor and chose not to answer. "But they should be playing with women," Trump replied. "He's being very diplomatic." Transgender athletes have been allowed to compete in the Olympics, including soccer, since 2004 if they meet the eligibility criteria set by their sport's International Federation. It wasn't until 2021 that the first openly transgender athletes competed in the Games. Trump's executive order that bans transgender participants from women's sports directs the Secretary of State's office to pressure the International Olympic to amend standards governing Olympic sporting events "to promote fairness, safety and the best interests of female athletes by ensuring that eligibility for participation in women's sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction." During the signing ceremony in February, Trump said he wants the International Olympic Committee to "change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject" ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Of the more than 500,000 NCAA athletes, only about 40 are known to be transgender, according to Anna Baeth, director of research at research at Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ equality in sports. The NCAA later adhered to Trump's executive order. Trans people appear to have no advantage in sports, according to an October 2023 review of 2017 research published in the journal Sports Medicine. Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors can stand.