President Donald Trump rolled out the welcome mat for Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday, hosting a Rose Garden celebration honoring the team’s consecutive World Series championships.
The Dodgers clinched their second straight title last October by defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in a dramatic Game 7, making them the first team to win back-to-back championships in 25 years. Trump had already honored the team once before, hosting them in the White House East Room in April 2025 to recognize their 2024 championship.
White House visits by sports champions have occasionally stirred controversy during Trump’s time in office. Back in 2018, the president withdrew his invitation to the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles after numerous players indicated they might decline the trip.
This time around, Dodgers star right fielder Mookie Betts chose not to attend, saying he wanted to use the team’s scheduled day off to be with his family — a contrast from his participation in the 2025 visit. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts downplayed any political angle to the visit, framing it as a reward for winning.
“My company line, my personal line, is, I hope that we get this invitation every year because that’s the goal, to win a championship, to get this invitation to the White House,” Roberts said Friday.
The team had originally looked at making the White House trip back in April during a road series against the Washington Nationals, but a packed early-season schedule made that impossible. The Thursday visit fit neatly into an off day between a recently finished series in Philadelphia and a Friday game against the New York Mets in Queens.
The tradition of championship baseball teams visiting the White House stretches back to 1869, when President Ulysses S. Grant welcomed the Cincinnati Red Stockings — the first fully professional baseball team to make such a visit. The modern World Series wasn’t established until 1903.
Since the Dodgers’ last White House appearance, Trump has renovated the Rose Garden, adding a patio area that echoes the look of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump, a lifelong baseball fan who grew up in New York, has long had ties to the New York Yankees through his friendship with the team’s late longtime owner George Steinbrenner. However, at a rally in Georgia on Wednesday, Trump turned his attention to the New York Mets, praising the ownership of the Atlanta Braves while taking shots at the Mets for their large payroll and poor performance.
Former Braves manager Brian Snitker and Mike Plant, president and CEO of the Braves Development Company, joined Trump on stage at that event.
“I like baseball,” Trump said, before continuing, “You know, the Mets have the highest salary in baseball, and they lose all the time. And I’m like, maybe we can steal this guy.”
“There are teams like that, where they never go down,” Trump added. “Then you have other teams — ‘We’re rebuilding.’ They’ve been rebuilding for years. I don’t want to mention teams ’cause I know all the owners. They’re all friends of mine.”
