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WASHINGTON — With portraits of George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt adorning the walls, and grand golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the Dodgers received a champion’s welcome in the East Room of the White House on Monday morning, applauded by a packed crowd awaiting their arrival for their 2024 World Series celebration.
Then, once they were all in place on a stage at the front of the room, President Trump entered to personally congratulate them on what he called a “legendary season.”
“That is a very good-looking group of people,” Trump said, with Dodgers players, coaches, executives and members of ownership, including chairman Mark Walter, standing around him.
“Over the course of this amazing season, the members of this team gave us some of the most incredible performances ever seen on the baseball diamond.”
The Dodgers started their series with the Phillies with a perfect record, but pitching Tyler Glasnow and Blake Treinen run into problems in an 8-7 loss.
When the Dodgers announced last month they would visit Trump’s White House this week, while in town for a series against the Washington Nationals, it triggered an avalanche of reactions from fans and others around the baseball world.
Three months into his second term in office, Trump remains a polarizing figure — especially in Los Angeles, where Kamala Harris received more than twice as many votes as he did among L.A. County voters in the 2024 election.
But the Dodgers cited the trip as nothing more than upholding tradition, despite pressure from some factions of their fan base to decline the invitation.
“We’re very pleased,” Walter said Monday, “to participate in the tradition of bringing champions to the White House.”
Players, meanwhile, saw it as an opportunity to celebrate their 2024 title together one more time.
“The White House is an incredible honor to get to go see, regardless of who’s in office,” Clayton Kershaw, the longest-tenured player in the organization, said afterward. “We went in 2021. We went this time. I know there’s been a lot of stuff about, should the Dodgers go? All this stuff. But at the end of the day, getting to go to the White House, getting to see the Oval Office, getting to meet the President of the United States, that’s stuff that you can’t lose sight of no matter what you believe. I was super honored to get to go today. It was an incredible opportunity. I’m glad we got to be part of it.”
Every returning member of the 2024 team on this week’s trip participated in the visit; including manager Dave Roberts (who said in 2019 he wouldn’t visit the White House if the Dodgers won a World Series during Trump’s first term) and shortstop Mookie Betts (who declined to visit the White House with the Boston Red Sox while Trump was first in office in 2019).
The only notable absence was first baseman Freddie Freeman, who remained in Los Angeles this week to nurse an ankle injury that landed him on the injured list.
Over a 15-minute speech, Trump lauded the Dodgers’ 2024 accomplishments; which, he noted, included knocking off the New York native’s “home teams” in the Mets and Yankees en route to their championship.
“You did a big number,” Trump said. “Really amazing how it all came out, and how it all ended.”
Of a potential Dodgers-Yankees rematch in the World Series, Trump added, “maybe we’ll see the same thing over again.”
The praise started with Roberts, who was once the target of social media criticisms from Trump during the 2018 World Series, but was told by the President on Monday that he is “one of the greatest managers, really, ever to wear the Dodger blue.”
“I think he would have lasted even with George Steinbrenner,” Trump deadpanned, in a reference to the former Yankees owner who was notorious for churning through managers.
“Great job, Dave,” he added after shaking Roberts’ hand.
Trump then turned his attention to Shohei Ohtani, listing off several of the accomplishments from the slugger’s unprecedented 50-homer, 50-steal performance last season before shaking his hand and joking that the reigning National League MVP “looks like a movie star.”
“Is he good?” Trump playfully asked Roberts.
“He’s only getting better,” Roberts responded.
“That’s scary for a lot of people, huh?” Trump said.
Trump also highlighted the contributions of Betts, Freeman, Max Muncy, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tommy Edman, Blake Treinen, Teoscar Hernández and Kiké Hernández (another player who had been critical of Trump in the past, but decided to participate in the visit with the rest of his teammates).
“If it wasn’t for something like this, I don’t think I’d ever go to the White House,” said Betts, who had been undecided about attending until announcing last Friday he would join the team for the visit. “Getting the opportunity to go there is a blessing. Really just kind of seeing it, it’s really different than people would expect. It’s neat.”
Another player to be singled out by Trump: Kershaw, who delivered remarks on behalf of the team despite missing all of last year’s postseason with an injury.
“I know you especially missed the heart and soul of the pitching staff, Clayton Kershaw,” Trump said. “But Clayton has been unbelievable. If you look at his records and you look at the stamina, the endurance that he’s had, we’re really happy to have him. I’m glad to meet him. I’ve watched him for a long time.”
Freeman was originally scheduled to give an address at Monday’s ceremony. But without him, Kershaw stepped into the void, offering his perspective on a 2024 team he came to admire while battling a toe injury.
The Dodgers say starting pitcher Blake Snell has left shoulder inflammation and will miss at least the next two starts while on the injured list.
“As a spectator for our championship run last year, I was in awe of this group,” Kershaw said in the East Room. “Their unwavering confidence, coupled with the selfless pursuit for team excellence, was an inspiration. That is why I am so grateful to get to speak today on their behalf, as I know none of them would say this about themselves. Moving forward, I hope the 2024 Dodgers can serve as an inspiration to many like they were to me — not just in sports but in life, remembering to put others before ourselves.”
The visit concluded with Trump taking the Dodgers back for a tour of the Oval Office — but not before he offered a prediction about their chances of repeating as champions in 2025.
“After seeing how successful you’ve begun this season,” Trump said, referencing the Dodgers’ 9-2 record this season entering Monday, “I can tell you that you can plan on being back here. I hope you’re going to be back here next year.”
On that point, Roberts agreed.
“I hope we get to do it again next year,” he said. “That’s just something that you only dream of, an opportunity to go to the White House.”
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