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UCLA’s national champion women’s basketball team received a surprising political pursuit from late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
During a group interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Tuesday, a discussion with Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Angela Dugalić and coach Cori Close turned political.
After Kimmel noted that former President Barack Obama made a social media post congratulating the team on its championship win, the host asked if President Donald Trump had reached out yet.
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The UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team is honored at center court during a game between the Lakers and Oklahoma Thunder at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on April 7, 2026. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The players answered “no” to Kimmel’s question about Trump.
But then Kimmel took the conversation deeper into an anti-Trump routine.
“I’m sure you know he’s busy. You’ll hear from him in two weeks,” Kimmel said. “In case you are invited to the White House and you decide to go to the White House, I have something for you.”
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Kimmel then pulled out a silver trophy that barely resembled the NCAA championship trophy that was on his desk.
“What I want you to do is bring this fake trophy that we made to the White House. He won’t know about it. But when you bring a trophy, sometimes he takes it and keeps it. So, this is for you to take to the White House. And then you can say, ‘President Trump, we want you to have this.’ And he’ll be very happy. You’ll probably get a donation and you can keep the real one,” Kimmel said.
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Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins watches during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA women’s basketball national championship at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 5, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Close laughed at Kimmel’s joke, as the players applauded lightly, exchanging light laughs.
Meanwhile, social media users criticized Kimmel for turning the sports interview into a Trump-centric rant.
“Even celebrating his championship, he has to make it about himself and his hatred of Trump. What a moron,” wrote one X user.
One X user mocked Kimmel, writing: “What will he do when Trump leaves office? Is the show cooked?”
Another X user wrote: “This is funny but I don’t like that he used them to hit the scruffy guy.”
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UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) reacts while holding the UCLA bracket decal after UCLA defeated Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Jessie Alcheh/AP)
UCLA won its first women’s basketball national championship in program history last weekend, defeating South Carolina Gamecocksthe team led by Dawn Staley that had reached the national title game three consecutive seasons and won it in 2024, in dominant fashion, 79-51.
