United States Vice President JD Vance almost dropped the national championship trophy towards the end of the Ohio State football team’s visit to the White House on Monday.
Following commendatory speeches by President Donald Trump, Buckeye coach Ryan Day, and Vance on the South Lawn, the vice president—an Ohio State alumnus attempted to lift the trophy in celebration.
However, he didn’t realise that the golden top of the trophy and its black base were separate. After some struggle, the vice president lost his grip on the two-part trophy. Ohio State University running back TreVeyon Henderson, who was standing behind Vance, quickly grabbed the football-shaped top.
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
However, the base slipped and fell to the ground, prompting Vance to scramble after it as it rolled a short distance away. Some of the players around the vice president winced.
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP), as the United States Marine Corps Band played “We Are the Champions” during the ceremony, it had to contend with audible gasps from the players and crowd reacting to the mishap with the trophy.
Henderson and Day helped Vance reassemble the trophy, and the vice president later held just the top, cradling it in his arms.
As the video went viral on the internet, the vice president tried to explain away the gaffe: “I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it,” he wrote on X.
I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it https://t.co/rS3Vw3BdO6
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 14, 2025
Before the trophy slip-up, Vance used part of his speech to reference the Buckeyes’ biggest rival, even calling out an audience member wearing a Michigan hat. “I don’t know who let the guy over in the corner here, in a Michigan hat, into this celebration,” Vance said.
“But I’m about to tell the Secret Service, ‘You’ve got a dangerous weapon, sir.’”
