(CNN) โ The Los Angeles Dodgers made their anticipated trip to the White House on Monday, visiting with Donald Trump to celebrate their World Series title and keeping up a longstanding tradition of sports champions meeting the US president.
Trump called Dodgers manager Dave Roberts โone of the greatest managers ever to wear the Dodger blue,โ and he also notably shook hands with Mookie Betts, who back in 2019 had opted not to visit the White House when he was a member of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
โThat guy can play, canโt he?โ Trump said of Betts. โI mean, unbelievable.โ

During the visit in the East Room of the White House, Clayton Kershaw presented Trump with a custom Dodgers jersey with the number 47 on it. Later, Shohei Ohtani got to spend time with Trump in the Oval Office.
In a 2019 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Roberts previously indicated he would decline an invite. But last month, Roberts said, according to ESPN, that โitโs a great honor for all of usโ to visit the White House.
Betts, meanwhile, according to the Los Angeles Times, recently called it a โregretโ that he didnโt visit in 2019, which was during Trumpโs first term.
Betts also said, according to the Times, that in hindsight he felt his absence in 2019 distracted from the teamโs accomplishment and that it had made the news more about him, which he called โselfish.โ
โThis is not about me; I donโt want anything to be about me,โ Betts said, per the Times last week. โThis is about the Dodgers. Because these boys were there for me.โ
The-CNN-Wire
โข & ยฉ 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.