President Donald Trump celebrated the National Champion Ohio State University Buckeyes football team at the White House Monday.
The team, Head Coach Ryan Day, Vice President JD Vance and officials from Ohio joined the president to recognize the team's win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in January. Trump walked the crowd through the football season and praised the team and players like quarterback Will Howard, running back TreVeyon Henderson and defensive end Jack Sawyer.
Trump said he admires the team because of the adversity they faced losing during the season against the Michigan Wolverines and Oregon Ducks.
"The team up north," Trump said to a booing crowd. "But you refused to let the Buckeye Nation down. You got better and better and tougher and tougher as the season went along."
Trump said he would bring the team to the Oval Office during their visit.
Trump often remarked on his political wins in Ohio while congratulating the Buckeyes.
"You beat the Fighting Irish that day 34-23 and for the first time in 10 years proudly claimed the title. The great state of Ohio. The great state. We love that state. We won that state in a landslide," Trump said.
Trump brought Sawyer and other players to the stage to talk about their feats during the season. When talking about Sawyer, Trump recognized Sawyer being a Columbus native. Sawyer grew up in the Columbus suburb of Pickerington.
Trump also falsely claimed to win the city of Columbus in the 2024 election.
"We won Columbus by a lot of points, I like it," Trump said.
Trump lost Columbus and Franklin County to former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Vance, an Ohio State alumni, also spoke about the Buckeyes' win. He said U.S. Senator Ted Cruz still owes him for a bet the two made on the game playoff game between the University of Texas and Ohio State.
Vance attempted to pick up the National Championship trophy during the ceremony by its base and nearly dropped it. Vance also jokingly threatened to call the Secret Service on a person in the crowd who was wearing a Michigan Wolverines hat.
