Donald Trump ‘not happy’ Fernando Mendoza skipped White House visit but Raiders QB absent for good reason

Fernando Mendoza skipped Indiana’s trip to the White House, and his absence was noted.

The NFL’s No. 1 overall pick said earlier this month that he wouldn’t head to Washington DC if the timing of the visit interfered with any activities with his new team, the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Speaking in front of the rest of the Hoosiers team Monday, Donald Trump revealed that Mendoza was at ‘spring training’ and gave him a heads up about skipping.

The president, though, still wasn’t too happy.

Donald Trump reacts to Fernando Mendoza’s White House snub

“The reason he’s not here — he was so nice, he called… he’s a big fan of ours,” Trump claimed of the 2026 top draft pick.

“You wouldn’t believe it, because he didn’t show up. I’m not happy, but that’s OK.

“The reason he didn’t, because he’s at spring training, right? He’s got to win, and I think he’s going to win early.

“He’s been great, he’s at spring training. Like his first day or something. I said, ‘You better go there.’

“If he didn’t (call), believe me, I wouldn’t have even talked about him. I would have not.

“If he was not here for other reasons, like he didn’t like Trump or he didn’t want to come, I wouldn’t have even mentioned him.

“I’d go through the whole (speech) — I’d talk about how great (the team was), I wouldn’t even mention the quarterback’s name.”

Fomer Indiana center Pat Coogan and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds were among others who didn’t attend the White House visit, due to NFL obligations.

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The Hoosiers had a school-record eight players selected in this year’s draft.

Mendoza, who led the 2026 class, previously suggested he didn’t want to miss a minute of Raiders camp in a bid to ‘best serve’ his teammates.

“I’m on the bottom of the totem pole here,” he said following a rookie minicamp practice on May 2.

“I got to prove myself. I can’t miss practice. I don’t know anything official. I don’t have the calendar, but I just wouldn’t.

“As a rookie, I don’t think that’s a good look, and I want to try to best serve my teammates. And I don’t know if that’d be accomplishing that goal.”

While his reasoning is sound, it appears Mendoza might have got his dates wrong.

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According to the Raiders official offseason schedule, the team did not have any formal practices or workouts set for Monday.

Their next activity will come on May 18, which is Las Vegas’ first OTA workout.

Donald Trump involved in awkward moment with Hoosiers head coach

While Mendoza was absent, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti did appear at the White House, and shared an awkward moment with Trump.

Despite building an unbeaten 16-0, national championship-winning football team, it seems Coach Cig is still relatively unknown to the president.

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As he introduced the Hoosiers team and noted their achievement, Trump asked ‘who’ and ‘where’ Curt was.

“Who is Curt? Curt Cignetti? Where is Curt Cignetti?” Trump said, as he turned to look at the team behind the podium.

Cignetti, in fact, was standing right beside him.

“Right here,” Indiana’s coach appeared so say, as Trump looked for him.

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Trump then responded: “Huh, oh. Come here.

“Curt Cignetti has turned out to be, I believe, the coach of the last decade.

“Nobody knew him, nobody knew the team and he ended up taking this team all the way.”

By going all the way, and winning the national title, Cignetti found himself standing alongside Trump on the White House lawn.

And while his star quarterback was absent, it was surely a day the Indiana coach will never forget.

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