Overview
- The Dodgers visited the White House on Thursday for a Rose Garden ceremony in which President Trump praised players, posed with stars including Shohei Ohtani, and accepted a personalized No. 47 jersey and a commemorative World Series ring.
- Most of the team attended the ceremony but notable players skipped it, including Mookie Betts who said he wanted to spend the off day with family and Enrique (Kiké) Hernández who was on injury rehab and said he likely would not have gone even if healthy.
- The stop reopened anger among many Dodgers fans in Los Angeles over recent ICE enforcement actions and renewed scrutiny of the club’s earlier public response to those operations.
- Days before the visit, reporting said federal prosecutors are investigating two insurance companies tied to Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and Guggenheim Partners, with no charges filed and company representatives saying they are cooperating with investigators.
- The trip was scheduled on an off day between series after an April visit was delayed for timing reasons, and the White House ceremony is likely to intensify attention on the team’s local standing and on ownership as the federal inquiry develops.