![\"a](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a94918ca9dd187d3954b1b3ba42f09b935f41cba\/513_0_4049_3238\/master\/4049.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=94d52e4ac161b6c9adf147d43adcc0ca\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cSpecial winners, unbelievable,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI would not be surprised to see them back here again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In remarks that also included lengthy tangents on former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and the renovation of the Rose Garden, Trump complimented several Dodgers players while also confusing the roles of some others. He made a lengthy comparison between Ohtani and legendary slugger Babe Ruth, and praised Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers ace who pitched an inning of last year\u2019s epic World Series Game 3 win over the Blue Jays in 18 innings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI watched him beat a lot of teams. They didn\u2019t do too well against him. He is still pitching well, I bet,\u201d Trump said of Kershaw, who retired after last year\u2019s World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said he spoke with Roberts before the event and expressed surprise at the Dodgers\u2019 status this season as the best team in baseball, but noted he\u2019s \u201cbeen a little busy with Iran and some other things\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The team gave Trump what appeared to be a replica of their championship ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWow. Do I have to report this?\u201d he said as he put the ring in his jacket. \u201cI don\u2019t want to report this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dodgers\u2019 trip to the White House left many of their fans with conflicted feelings, given recent ICE raids and protest crackdowns in the city of Los Angeles as ordered by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Betts, who did not participate in the Boston Red Sox\u2019s trip during Trump\u2019s first term but was there during the Dodgers\u2019 visit last year, told reporters he preferred to spend the day with his family. Hern\u00e1ndez, an outspoken critic of the ICE raids in Los Angeles, said he had a conflicting injury rehab assignment but wouldn\u2019t have participated if he was available to join. Pitcher Edgardo Henriquez also reportedly did not attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy personal line, my company line, is I hope we get this invitation every year because that\u2019s the goal, to win a championship,\u201d Roberts said earlier this year after the team accepted the invitation. \u201cI\u2019m not a politician, and I\u2019m doing something that teams have done for decades. And so that\u2019s where I stand, really. I\u2019m a baseball coach. That\u2019s what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teams who have won a major championship have traditionally been invited to the White House to celebrate their victory with the president. During Trump\u2019s first term, several teams were not invited or made clear they would not attend, including champions from the NBA and the WNBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n