President Donald Trump traded politics for baseball Thursday afternoon as he welcomed the Los Angeles Dodgers to the White House and celebrated the team’s second consecutive World Series championship.
The Dodgers gathered with Trump in the Rose Garden during their only off day on an East Coast road trip. The team’s 2024 and 2025 championship trophies were displayed behind the president and players during the ceremony.
“I’m thrilled to say welcome back to the White House,” Trump told the team, according to Fox News. “And maybe I’ll see you again next year.”
Dodgers owner and chairman Mark Walter presented Trump with a personalized jersey bearing his name and the number 47, along with a World Series championship ring.
“Do I have to report this?” Trump joked as he pocketed the ring.
“It’s got your name on it,” Walter replied.
Trump devoted much of his address to recounting the Dodgers’ dramatic championship run, which ended with a seven-game victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. He highlighted many of the team’s postseason heroes, including Freddie Freeman, Miguel Rojas, Andy Pages, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.
“The 2025 Dodger season was one for the record books,” Trump said, according to Fox News. “In 150 years of Major League Baseball, no player has ever earned more than one unanimous league MVP, except for an international legend named Shohei Ohtani.”
“He’s amazing. He’s amazing. Everybody loves him,” the president continued. “Last year, Shohei did what was previously unthinkable. Nobody thought it was possible. He collected his third straight unanimous league MVP with a franchise record 55 home runs.”
Trump compared Ohtani’s rare ability to dominate both at the plate and on the mound to baseball icon Babe Ruth.
“If you would have told me you can be the best pitcher and the best hitter at the same time, you know, Babe Ruth was pretty close to that,” Trump said.
Ohtani delivered one of the most remarkable individual performances in postseason history during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, pitching six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts while also hitting three home runs.
“I said to myself, ‘That’s the greatest game ever played by one person,’ because you did the pitching and the hitting,” Trump said, according to MLB.com. “And he’s not finished yet.”
The president also praised Freeman’s walk-off home run in the 18th inning of World Series Game 3 and Yamamoto’s performance on zero days’ rest to finish the Dodgers’ Game 7 victory.
Retired Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw returned for the ceremony in his new role as a special assistant to the organization. Kershaw made the final appearance of his career during the 2025 World Series, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the 12th inning of Game 3.
“You could pitch right now if they needed you, right?” Trump asked.
Kershaw indicated that he could not.
“And he’s smart,” Trump quipped.
Manager Dave Roberts made clear that the Dodgers do not intend to stop at two straight championships.
“We did something that hasn’t been done in 25 years, going back-to-back as World Series champions,” Roberts said. “And we are going for a three-peat.”
A third consecutive title would make Los Angeles the first MLB team to accomplish the feat since the New York Yankees won three straight World Series from 1998 through 2000.
Trump recalled attending many of those Yankees games with his late friend, former team owner George Steinbrenner.
“He was a friend of mine, and he liked winning. He would do anything to win,” Trump said. “But you’re doing the same thing. It’s amazing.”
Most of the Dodgers’ biggest names attended Thursday’s ceremony. Mookie Betts was absent but told reporters that his decision was not political and that he wanted to spend the team’s rare day off with his family. Kiké Hernández and injured catcher Will Smith also did not attend.
The Dodgers entered Friday with Major League Baseball’s best record at 65-38 and an 11-game advantage in the National League West. They open a weekend series against the New York Mets on Friday as they continue pursuing an unprecedented third straight championship.
Thursday’s celebration marked the Dodgers’ second White House visit in as many years and their third trip to the executive mansion in six years.
Trump, meanwhile, will return to another major Washington tradition Friday night when he attends the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria.
The original April 25 dinner was abruptly canceled after an armed attacker allegedly attempted to breach the event’s security perimeter and shot a Secret Service agent. The agent survived and is expected to receive a service award during Friday’s program.
The rescheduled dinner will be considerably smaller, with approximately 680 guests instead of the 2,600 who attended in April. Organizers have also introduced enhanced security measures, including a private entrance, individualized QR codes, government identification checks and airport-style screening, according to People.
Trump is expected to deliver the speech he was unable to give during the original dinner.
