Vice President JD Vance almost had a major fumble during Ohio State’s visit to the White House Monday.
Today had to be an exciting one for Vance, an Ohio native and Ohio State graduate. The 40-year-old politician, who served as a senator from his home state before becoming vice president, earned his bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from OSU in 2009 before attending law school at Yale.
At one point during this afternoon’s festivities, Vance had the opportunity to handle the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. Unfortunately, he almost broke it, as the hardware separated in two as Vance picked it up.
Vance couldn’t hang on to the base of the award, which fell to the ground below but did not appear damaged. An Ohio State player maintained hold of the trophy itself, thankfully.
“The award is two separate pieces–the trophy and the base with the idea being that the trophy is what’s held aloft, not the base,” explained Philip Wegmann of Real Clear Politics.
The CFP National Championship Trophy falls apart as VP JD Vance tries to hold it aloft at the White House. pic.twitter.com/XYmZRnCsK0
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) April 14, 2025
Vance is not the first person we’ve seen struggle with handling a championship trophy, and he likely won’t be the last. This was definitely slightly embarrassing, but things could have gone much worse.
Ohio State earned its trip to the Oval Office with its win over Notre Dame in the CFP National Championship on Jan. 20. Before beating the Fighting Irish, the Buckeyes had to take down Tennessee, Oregon and Texas, all while being counted out following a season-ending upset loss to rival Michigan.
“Traveling to D.C. was the easy part. Earning the right to be here was the hard one,” OSU head coach Ryan Day said, via 11W. “This team made history. … Through discipline and execution, this team dominated, finished the mission and left no doubt.”
The Buckeyes are the third championship team to visit the White House in the opening months of Donald Trump’s second term in office.
The NHL’s Florida Panthers were the first back in February, and Los Angeles Dodgers, last year’s World Series champions, made the trip earlier this month.
Next up: the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on April 28.
Related: Ryan Day Gets Very Honest About Ohio State’s White House Visit