Championship-Winning Team Visits White House, Present “Trump 45-47” Jersey

President Trump hosted the Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers Monday at the White House.

“A tremendous championship,” Trump told the Panthers as the franchise celebrated its first-ever Stanley Cup championship.

According to ESPN, Trump described Panthers owner Vinnie Viola as a good friend.

The team gifted Trump a customized “Trump 45-47” jersey and golden hockey stick. 

WATCH:

HOLY SH*T President Trump was just gifted a GOLD HOCKEY STICK and a Trump Jersey by the Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers

I am in tears, Trump is truly loved pic.twitter.com/xJXpER4UcA

— MAGA Voice (@MAGAVoice) February 3, 2025

Per ESPN:

The ceremony was delayed nearly an hour because Trump was talking to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about pausing tariffs on the country, as he did with Mexico.

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Trump made repeated references to Panthers owner Vinnie Viola being a friend, adding that “he’s a champion at everything he’s ever done.” Viola was briefly Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of the Army in 2016 before withdrawing from consideration, and the Panthers play in Sunrise, Florida, 48 miles away from one of Trump’s residences in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

In his speech to the club, Trump mentioned the run to the title and how he watched “the team get better and better and better,” referring to the Panthers as “real champions” for their “tremendous championship.”

The team had a red customized “Trump 45-47” jersey framed for him. He was also presented a “Trump 47” jersey and a gold stick by Viola, Finnish captain Aleksander Barkov and American forward Matthew Tkachuk.

WATCH:

It looks like the entire Florida Panthers team deliberated dressed like President Trump today.

I’ve never seen so many red ties in one place. pic.twitter.com/yjS5ZpgnYA

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 3, 2025

Florida Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk thanks President Trump: “This is such an incredible day for myself. You wake up every day really grateful to be an American.” pic.twitter.com/sqdLBELDFo

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) February 3, 2025

“Congratulations on your first ever Stanley Cup win,” Trump said.

WATCH:

“Congratulations on your first ever Stanley Cup win.”

Pres. Trump welcomes the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to the White House. https://t.co/UvuxJX8t11 pic.twitter.com/6nAqNyw5cY

— ABC News (@ABC) February 3, 2025

From the Miami Herald:

The Panthers, who are in D.C. to play the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, won their first Cup in the franchise’s 30th season, with their run capped by beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games after nearly blowing a 3-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

When the Panthers won the first three games of the series against Edmonton, Trump said he thought “it was over” as so many others did.

“In fact,” Trump said, “I didn’t watch the next two games because I said ‘This is not going to be too exciting.”

And then the Oilers won Game 4, 8-1.

“Uh oh,” Trump said. “This is not good.”

And then the Oilers won Game 5, 5-3.

“Then I really said ‘Uh oh,’” Trump said.

But then after the Oilers staved off elimination one more time with a 5-1 win in Game 6, Florida held on to avoid the collapse with a 2-1 win in Game 7 at Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena to claim their first Stanley Cup.

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“Both teams showed tremendous willpower and athletic talent, unbelievable talent,” Trump said, “but in the end, the Panthers stood their ground and did what you have to do as a champion. You can’t be a champion unless you go through something like that. … It’s an incredible achievement.”

Trump shook hands with various members of the Panthers as he rattled off the team’s accomplishments. He noted that he wanted to be coach Paul Maurice’s agent and that “nobody knows hockey like Paul.” He spoke of the “unbelievable” job goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky did in net throughout the playoffs and congratulated Barkov for winning the Selke Trophy, given to the NHL’s top two-way forward. He talked of Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart’s goals in the decisive Game 7.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.