Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday applauded LSU’s 2025 national championship baseball team in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Trump said Louisiana is "a special state," noting how extraordinary it was to have national champions for both the NCAA and the NAIA — LSU Shreveport, whose team also was on hand — hail from the same state. As the NCAA oversees sports at major colleges, the NAIA, or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, governs sports at smaller institutions. "Two amazing seasons," Trump said. "You might have them, but not from the same state, amazing." Both LSU head coach Jay Johnson and LSU Shreveport coach Brad Neffendorf awarded Trump with team jerseys with the number 47, signifying the Trump presidency. With help of dominant pitching by Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson, along with the timely hitting of Jared Jones, Derek Curiel and others, LSU in June won its second national championship in three years — its eighth since 1991. Trump mentioned the contributions of several players who were gathered behind him. He noted which major league teams drafted the players. Trump turned and shook hands with Anderson. "We like winners at the White House, Kade," Trump said. The president noted that Anderson was drafted by the Seattle Mariners, who were set to play the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night — with the winner going to the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Trump asked if he'd be watching the game. Anderson said he would. Johnson nodded toward House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, and said that Louisiana had the top two leaders in the U.S. House — both of whom graduated from LSU. But most of his accolades went toward the players, who he said kept their heads when times were hard and practiced togetherness throughout the championship season. “They made it about the team,” the coach said. The LSU team arrived Sunday night and was feted at a U.S. House office building with a striking view of the U.S. Capitol. On Monday morning, the teams and their entourages, because they were so large, convened in the House chamber. Trump and Speaker Johnson only mentioned in passing that the federal government had been shut down since Oct. 1. Trump said he, Johnson and Scalise want the Senate Democrats to agree to a resolution to continue government operations. Several other top Louisiana officials also attended the ceremony, including Rep. Julia Letlow, the Republican whose district stretches from Monroe down to LSU's campus and much of south Baton Rouge, where professors, staff, and students live; U.S. Sen. John N. Kennedy, R-Madisonville, who taught law classes at LSU; and Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lives at the gates of the LSU campus. “Only in Louisiana do you get two national champions in the same sport in one year! It was great to mark the moment with President Trump and both teams at the White House,” Cassidy said. Gov. Jeff Landry and state Reps Mark Wright, R-Covington, and Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, were also on hand. Trump spent much of the morning and early afternoon meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The two signed an agreement on mining rare minerals.
