During the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent visit to the White House, Mookie Betts received a handshake and high praise from former President Donald Trump—along with a jab at the Boston Red Sox for trading the superstar outfielder.
“Mookie. That guy can play, can’t he? I mean, unbelievable,” Trump said, according to MassLive’s Lauren Campbell. “I didn’t think that was a particularly good trade when they made it, and I happened to be right.”
The Red Sox traded Betts to the Dodgers in February 2020, a move that remains controversial among Boston fans. In exchange, Boston received outfielder Alex Verdugo, shortstop Jeter Downs, and catcher Connor Wong.
As of 2025, only Wong remains with the Red Sox and has emerged as the team’s starting catcher. Verdugo is now with the Gwinnett Stripers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, while Downs currently plays in Japan for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Betts, now a cornerstone of the Dodgers franchise, has thrived since the trade. He helped lead Los Angeles to a World Series title in 2020 and continues to perform at an MVP level. Shortly after arriving in L.A., Betts signed a massive 12-year, $365 million extension—before even playing a regular-season game with the team.
When Betts returned to Boston in 2023, he reflected on the trade, saying: “Just because I didn’t take an offer didn’t mean I didn’t want to be there… We thought it was going to work out. I thought both sides were playing the slow game and it would eventually work out.”
Interestingly, Betts skipped the Red Sox's White House visit in 2019 after their 2018 World Series win, which took place during Trump’s presidency. Now, years later, he found himself at the White House—and on the receiving end of a presidential endorsement.
