Dodgers plan to attend White House for World Series celebration
The Dodgers will make a return trip to the White House in recognition of their latest World Series title.
President Trump is planning to host the team but no date has been set for the ceremony, a White House official confirmed Thursday morning.
The Dodgers went to the White House following their two previous World Series championships, being hosted by President Biden in 2021 and President Trump last April.
A Dodgers spokesman declined comment Thursday.
Questions swirled around whether players would decline to go ahead of last year’s visit. Kiké Hernández said in 2018 he was unsure he would have done had the Dodgers won the World Series the previous year. Mookie Betts said he was undecided and needed to talk it over with his family first when last year’s visit was initially announced. After winning his first World Series with the Red Sox in 2018, Betts skipped their trip to the White House the following year during Trump’s first term.
Both players ended up going in 2025.
Manager Dave Roberts, who indicated in comments to The Times in 2019 he might not go to the White House if Trump was president, also participated in last year’s ceremony.
When asked at last weekend’s Dodgers’ fan festival about the possibility of returning to the White House this year, Roberts told The Times’ Bill Shaikin: “For me, I stand by: I’m a baseball manager. That’s my job.
“I was raised — by a man who served our country for 30 years — to respect the highest office in our country. For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the office, I’m going to go to the White House. I’ve never tried to be political. … For me, I am going to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”
Though no date has been set for this year’s White House visit, the Dodgers will play the Nationals in a three-game series April 3-5, with an off day on April 2 following a six-game homestand to open the season.