WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday hosted the Indiana University Hoosiers football team at the White House to celebrate their College Football Playoff championship from January.
Head Coach Curt Cignetti and dozens of players joined Trump for the South Lawn celebration. About 15 players from the 2026 team, including star quarterback Fernando Mendoza, were absent because they were attending training camp after being drafted by National Football League (NFL) teams, Cignetti noted.
Trump said Mendoza called him.
“He was so nice. He called… Actually, JD, he’s a big fan of ours,” Trump told Vice President JD Vance, who sat in the first row. “You wouldn’t believe it because he didn’t show up. I’m not happy, but that’s okay. The reason he didn’t because he’s at Spring Training.”
“If he was not here for other reasons, like he didn’t like Trump, or he didn’t want to come, I wouldn’t even mention him… I wouldn’t even mention the quarterback’s name, but he’s a great guy, actually, and he is actually a big fan of what we’re doing for our country,” Trump added.
Mendoza, the 2026 Heisman Trophy winner, whom the Las Vegas Raiders selected with the first pick in April’s NFL draft, said earlier this month he was unlikely to make the White House visit with practice commencing as he works to integrate with his new team.
“This was a year that will live forever in the hearts of Indiana football fans. It was an exciting year for football, but maybe you’re the biggest story,” he told Cignetti, whom he later called “the coach of the last decade.”
The president highlighted that 2026 marked the first-ever undefeated season and national championship in program history, drawing cheers from those watching on from the South Lawn.
On behalf of the program, Cignetti and Charlie Becker presented Trump with a jersey bearing the number 47, a Hoosiers helmet, and a football signed by Cignetti and the team. The president also hosted the players in the Oval Office.