The 2025 World Series team visited the White House, where President Donald Trump praised them as “really a special team … special winners” who used a combination of luck and talent to win the dramatic, seven-game World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays last fall – “a helluva series,” he said.
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President Trump, who called the Dodgers “one of the great brands anywhere in the world,” also made a similar prediction to the one he made when the 2024 championship team visited the White House in April 2025.
“They’re champions and just unbelievable,” he said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised to see them back again.”
Dodgers principal owner Mark Walter presented Trump with a personalized No. 47 jersey just as the team did last year. But this time Walter also gave Trump his own World Series ring, inscribed with the president’s name.
“That looks good,” Trump said, inviting the players to tour the Oval Office after the ceremony as he did in 2025.
There was not perfect attendance for this year’s ceremony, held outdoors in President Trump’s remodeled Rose Garden. Shortstop Mookie Betts did not attend. Utility man Kiké Hernandez stayed with Triple-A Oklahoma City, continuing his minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Injured catcher Will Smith and injured pitchers Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Treinen were not there. Neither was reliever Edgardo Henriquez, some members of the coaching staff and neither President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman nor General Manager Brandon Gomes.
Team president and CEO Stan Kasten was there. So was Lon Rosen, formerly the Dodgers’ executive vice president and chief marketing officer and now the president of business operations for the Lakers, recently purchased by Walter and Guggenheim Partners.
Also absent from the event were the members of the Japanese media who cover the Dodgers and their trio of Japanese players – Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki – on a daily basis. Citing “space limitations,” the White House Press Office did not credential any of them to attend this year’s event.
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But retiree Clayton Kershaw made the trip, joining his 2025 teammates on the stage. Referencing Kershaw’s appearance in the 18-inning Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays, President Trump at first seemed unaware that Kershaw had retired following the 2025 season before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts let him know Kershaw was a full-time family man now.
“You could pitch right now if they needed you,” President Trump said. “You’d be out there, right?”
Stepping forward to shake Trump’s hand, Kershaw shook his head and said, “No,” prompting laughter from his teammates.
Roberts gave a brief speech on behalf of the team.
“We did something that hasn’t been done in over 30 years, going back-to-back World Series champions, and we are going for a three-peat,” Roberts said. “We’re in the middle of this season right now, the grind. So thank you. The only thing I’ll have to say is, I hope when you watch our guys play, you can be proud and say these guys do things the right way.”
Walter also spoke, also hoping to return again next year.
“Winning back-to-back championships is an extraordinary accomplishment, and it reflects the talent, determination and character of everyone in the organization,” Walter said. “Thank you for welcoming us today, Mr. President. We’re proud of that team and what it has achieved, and we hope to be back here again next year.”
Earlier in the day, Roberts, relief pitcher Will Klein and infielder Miguel Rojas were hosted at Capitol Hill by California’s two U.S. Senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
This year’s White House trip was trickier to schedule. The timing for a visit didn’t work out when the Dodgers were in town to play the Nationals in April for a series of day games. So, they used their only off day during a nine-game East Coast trip to make a quick trip to Washington, wedging the visit between games against the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.
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More to come on this story.