Donald Trump hosted the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House on Thursday for the team’s second visit in two years.
During a ceremony in the Rose Garden, the team presented the president with a custom Dodgers jersey and a World Series championship ring. Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, manager Dave Roberts, and much of the championship roster attended.
But something was missing.
Three Dodgers players—Mookie Betts, Kiké Hernández, and Edgardo Henriquez—did not attend the White House reception, which took place despite calls from Los Angeles’ Latino community urging the organization to decline the invitation in response to federal immigration raids across the city. Their absence quickly became one of the most discussed aspects of the visit, standing in contrast to the team’s official appearance.
Hernández had already made his position clear. In an Instagram post, he wrote: “Los Angeles and Dodger fans have welcomed me, supported me and shown me nothing but kindness and love. This is my second home. And I cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart. ALL people deserve to be treated with respect, dignity and human rights.”
Now, Hernández remains one of the Dodgers’ most respected voices in the clubhouse, yet the organization returned to the White House despite the backlash from many fans and community leaders.
Were they not listening?
The visit left many Dodgers fans with conflicted feelings as it came amid recent ICE raids and protest crackdowns in Los Angeles ordered by the Trump administration.
Betts, who declined to join the Boston Red Sox’s White House visit during Trump’s first term but attended the Dodgers’ visit last year, said he chose to spend the day with his family. Hernández said he was on an injury rehabilitation assignment but added that he would not have attended even if he had been available. Pitcher Edgardo Henriquez also reportedly did not attend.
