Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, and Kike Hernández were among the Dodgers superstars who shook hands and shared laughs with President Donald Trump on Monday as part of the team’s White House visit to celebrate their 2024 World Series title.
Clayton Kershaw gave brief remarks, calling the trip to the White House “an incredible honor for me … to stand here today representing the Los Angeles Dodgers.” He presented Trump a gifted Dodgers jersey emblazoned with the president’s last name.
“I love these people behind me,” Trump said of the team.
Back in Los Angeles, many Dodger fans and residents resented the Dodgers for visiting the White House amid tariffs that many fear could ignite a global economic downturn and deportation efforts that have raised the alarm across immigrant communities in L.A.
“It hurts me to see the Dodgers there,” said Joe Diaz, a Dodger fan who grew up in Boyle Heights.
To Diaz, 52, it was difficult to shake the fact that Trump has disparaged countries and islands that Dodgers players hail from, like Venezuela and Puerto Rico.
“Baseball is international … Everyone that he’s against is there at the White House,” Diaz said of the visit.
Diaz recognizes that it’s tradition for World Series champions to make a trip to the White House, but he hoped the team would have taken some sort of stance against Trump.
“It stings a little bit to see the Dodgers going to the White House after knowing what this president is all about,” Diaz said. “For me, I will continue supporting the Dodgers. I don’t support today’s visit, but it’s just like everything else. There’s things that people do that you like, and there’s things people do that you don’t like. You’re still gonna be friends with them.”
The White House visit comes nearly a month after the Department of Defense briefly removed a webpage highlighting Dodgers baseball legend Jackie Robinson’s military service, according to the Associated Press. It’s a move aligned with the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate content related to diversity and inclusion.
Fans and the public expressed their resentment and disappointment on the Dodgers’ official Instagram account, where photos featured the players posing with each other in the White House and with Trump holding his gifted jersey.
“Literally one month ago, this administration tried to erase Jackie Robinson. To go to and “celebrate” with the same administration is beyond disgraceful. Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium this season is essentially a marketing ploy, since the team has no morals,” a commenter with the Instagram handle @jsatz23 wrote.
“This President has attacked the people of LA with his threats and policies more than ANY US President. SHAME on the Dodgers for showing up for him, when he has never shown up for the people of LA. In turn, we the people will not be showing up to games this season,” another Instagram commenter, @rednezzie said.
Others wrote in support of the visit.
“… it’s a tradition not a political statement,” user @brensons_a_nerd wrote.
“Regardless of political views a visit to the White House should be embraced by all Championship Teams. The visit is about respect and tradition, not making a statement,” @dodgerdawgnick said on Instagram.
But for Laura Espinoza, who hails from Boyle Heights and East L.A., “traditions are meant to be broken if they don’t serve the community that upholds them.”
Espinoza said she’s been deterred from supporting the team due to the history of Chavez Ravine, the area that was cleared to make way for Dodger Stadium, displacing generations of mostly Mexican-American communities.
She also points to the recent controversy surrounding the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – a nonprofit that uses drag and religious imagery in its social advocacy – that the organization disinvited to their 2023 Pride night after conservative backlash. The Dodgers wound up backtracking and reinviting them.
“I’ve always wanted to give them a chance, but … I don’t think I need anything further to confirm that it’s just not ever going to be my scene,” said Espinoza, 42.
“I don’t have a lot of money so I try to spend my money on events that give back to the community,” Espinoza said. “But to go and spend money on the Dodgers, when they’ve proven that they’re good at marketing to the community and getting us to spend money there, but as far as representation … I don’t see why I should continue a tradition that doesn’t work for me.”
Editor’s Note April 8, 2025: An earlier version of this story named Joe Diaz as Joe Avila. The story has been corrected.
I agree don’t spend money on Dodgers this year ! Show management since they really only care about money and not the LA community fans. And this racist president they must have voted for let that sink in. It’s the people who stand up against all this BS that make a difference. They need our money to keep these players, and these players are in it for the money not the fans. Their true colors are shown. There are no more Jackie Robinson’s!
Not a fan anymore…not sorry…I’m done!
It hurts to see Dodgers visit the White House in the worst moment so that tells me that they really not support minorities the way they say. I’ve been a Dodgers fan since I was little now it kind of makes me sick that they went there shaking hands with Trump and laughing like nothing happened.They could avoided it and hope fans in LA don’t show up for games to see how it feels
The Dodgers have invested billions in player salaries, branding and marketing, not to mention 100 million in stadium upgrades. Now they have put it all in jeopardy with a visit to Trump! I wouldn’t be surprised to see only around a thousand fans at the next home game. I have also stopped watching the Lakers and Clippers. That’s right, I don’t attend their games and I don’t watch them on tv. I’m tired of watching 5 minutes of basketball and 5 minutes of car, burger, pizza and taco commercials.
Lastly, the Dodger players were having too much fun with the Mango Mussolini. Lots of big smiles and laughter while the fearless leader trashes the country. Good-bye, Streetcar Dodgers. Last year was fun, but I’m done.
Just goes to show the Dodgers don’t care about their fans or community. Won’t be supporting them anymore. Stay strong LA, stay Strong Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles
Very disappointed the Dodgers visited the white house. Trump and his minions are hurting people and destroying the rule of law and governance. This is an all hands on deck moment to oppose fascism and the Dodgers chose to partake in a photo opp.
It WAS a tradition for championship teams to visit the White House until Trump broke the tradition his first term by hand selecting only teams HE liked to invite. For example he didn’t invite the Women’s NCAA Basketball Champions (women and mostly black). Also, the team claimed they were done celebrating and they were focusing solely on the 2025 season. Yet they went ON A GAME DAY and celebrated 2024 AGAIN! Guess the parade and all us fans weren’t good enough.
I am beyond disappointed and as such, I cannot support an organization that I feel has betrayed its community and fan base not just here in the LA area but literally all over the world. To me this has nothing to do with party affiliation. Presidents have come and gone, this current president however, I fear is set on staying on and it’s just beyond my understanding as to how the dodger organization can just continue as business as usual when so much is at stake.
Trump does not represent what sport organizations have worked so hard to achieve. I’m just going to say it, EQUALITY! A level playing field on which diversity, equity, and inclusion, has resulted in creating unforgettable moments in sports history. My disappointment stems from the fact that the Dodgers had historically led the way by selecting the one player who paved the way, the one and only Frank Robinson. But I digress, let’s be clear, this was not just a visit to the White House, and to be quite honest, it really sounds dishonest to hide behind, “this is a tradition.” Let’s be clear, this was a political photo op for a president who represents the opposite of what the Dodger organization used to stand for.
Despite its flaws, I still love L.A. What the Dodgers did today, by supporting a man who loathes L.A., the great Jackie Robinson and the entire state of California, will prove to be one of the more brazen, despicable acts perpetuated by a sports team against its own community. Yes,I still love L.A., but the Dodgers organization can take a hike. I’m done!
I couldn’t agree more with those who are bashing the Dodgers organization for their thoughtless and ridiculous visit to see the first dictator of the country. It blows my mind to think that this team, which I’ve been a loving fan for over 60 years would disrespect the city of L.A. and all of their loyal and devoted fans for a photo op with a criminal posing as a leader of the free world. This is the same monster who is trying to eliminate people of color from jobs and history books. Not to mention the millions of seniors depending on social security which is now under threat of being eliminated. These are just a few of our American institutions that he plans to dismantle for the sake of the super rich. Maybe the Dodgers are actually out of touch with the average citizen of this country. They may have no idea how people sacrifice just to be able to make ends meet on a daily basis, let alone to be able to attend a single game at Dodgers stadium. That will no longer be a problem for me as I have no plans to visit Dodgers Stadium this year. That debacle at the White House was enough to turn me off to the Dodgers for years to come. Wow, just think, this guy actually eliminated Jackie Robinson’s name and accomplishments from his time in the military before he became a player for the Dodgers and this is how my beloved team honors his memory. Utterly shameful!!!
Since I was five years old, I’ve been Dodger Blue. I am 67 years old. As a kid I used to listen to Dodger games on a transistor radio after bedtime. For me, the Dodgers visiting a Neo Nazi at the White House pissed me off. Today I bought a Padres cap. See ya traitors!