The Los Angeles Dodgers will attend a White House ceremony in their honor this year, the Trump administration confirmed Wednesday, amid calls for the team to scrap the traditional visit.
A White House official exclusively told The Post that the team has been in touch with the administration and plans to attend, but a date has yet to be set.
The Dodgers declined to comment.
When asked this weekend about the visit, team President Stan Kasten said, “I don’t have any news for you on that,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Times: “I’m going to go to the White House… 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.”
While a date for this year’s visit has yet to be confirmed, the team’s only trip to Washington will be during their first road series of the season, when they play three games against the Nationals during the weekend of April 3-5.
The team has gone to the White House after each of their two recent World Series championships, visiting with President Biden in 2021 and President Trump last April.
While last year’s visit was polarizing among some factions of the fan base, there was full attendance from the team, with owner Mark Walter and now-retired pitcher Clayton Kershaw giving addresses to the crowd at the East Room reception.
“The White House is an incredible honor to get to go see, regardless of who’s in office,” Kershaw said after last year’s visit. “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.”
Mookie Betts was the only player last year who openly voiced initial uncertainty about going. He skipped a White House trip with his former team, the Boston Red Sox, after their 2018 title during Trump’s first term, ultimately decided to join the Dodgers in 2025.
“No matter what I say or what I do, people are gonna take it as political,” Betts said at the time. “But that’s definitely not what it is. This is about what the Dodgers were able to accomplish last year.”
