The Las Vegas Aces say they weren’t invited to the White House after winning the 2025 WNBA title in October, marking a first for the franchise under the Trump administration. Team officials say scheduling conflicts will prevent a planned Washington trip, even
For the second straight year, the WNBA appears to be left out of one of American sports’ most public championship rituals. The Las Vegas Aces say they did not receive an invitation to the White House after winning the 2025 league title in October.
A team spokesperson said the Aces considered visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture as an alternate way to commemorate the championship in Washington. D.C. But the plan unraveled: the team will be in Washington for its matchup against the Washington Mystics on July 22. and scheduling conflicts would prevent the trip.
That absence lands during a White House moment with its own sharp edge. The Trump administration has yet to host a WNBA or NBA team for a championship visit. and while women’s sports teams have rarely been invited during either of U.S. President Donald Trump’s terms. this would be the first time the Aces won a title without visiting the executive estate.
During President Joe Biden’s presidency, the timeline was different. The Aces waited months before receiving an invitation. After the franchise’s first league title in 2022. decorated center A’ja Wilson pushed the issue directly to social media after Biden publicly congratulated the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights for winning the 2023 Stanley Cup as the “first major professional franchise in such a proud American city.”.
Wilson’s post asked: “When is our White House Visit because…,” setting a contrast between headline celebration across leagues and the lack of a similar moment for the WNBA champions.
Two months later, the Aces did get their White House visit for the 2022 championship. Wilson and the team celebrated at the executive residence with then–Vice President Kamala Harris. after the White House announced that Biden and his wife. Jill. would host the Aces but Harris filled in when Biden opted to extend a family vacation.
Harris and Biden hosted the Aces together again when the team visited the White House to celebrate its 2023 WNBA title in April 2024.
The broader pattern also shows how unusual the current gap can be. Biden hosted the 2020 champion Seattle Storm in 2021. Before that, no NBA or WNBA team had gone to the White House since the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, when Barack Obama was in office.
Women’s teams have found other ways to mark big wins as well. In 2022. the 2021 WNBA champion Chicago Sky met with former President Barack Obama in a meeting arranged by the franchise’s ownership. The New York Liberty later did something similar in June 2025 after winning the 2024 title. enjoying a dinner with the Obamas during a road trip to D.C.
Against that backdrop. Trump’s attention to men’s and women’s teams has been visible through his remarks about sports at the top level. He made headlines around the Milano Cortina 2026 winter Olympics for comments about the women’s hockey team after he called the men’s team following its 2-1 overtime win over Canada in the gold-medal game. In a video of the call posted to social media. Trump said he’d “probably be impeached” if he didn’t invite the women’s team.
And the cultural fallout is already spreading beyond Washington. In July, rapper Flavor Flav will host an event in Las Vegas to celebrate champions in women’s sport. The idea, according to the reporting, was born in direct response to that incident.
Within the sports calendar, the Aces’ near-miss comes as other pro basketball moments continue to play out. Trump attended Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Both teams wore USA250 patches throughout the Finals. The WNBA is considering adding them to the jerseys for the All-Star game in Chicago next month.
For the Aces. the immediate question is not about whether a championship happened—it is about whether the franchise’s 2025 winning season will receive the kind of White House welcome it has become accustomed to. With the invitation not arriving and the alternate museum trip derailed by scheduling conflicts tied to their July 22 date in Washington against the Mystics. this title will be remembered without the executive-branch stop that has marked past triumphs.
Las Vegas Aces WNBA White House visit 2025 WNBA title A'ja Wilson Kamala Harris Joe Biden Donald Trump National Museum of African American History and Culture Washington Mystics sports championship celebrations