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Donald Trump Comments on Fernando Mendoza’s Absence and Issues Warning About Indiana Football’s ‘Muhammad Ali’
The Indiana Hoosiers’ 2026 campaign has been nothing short of remarkable—arguably the greatest turnaround in American sports history. Their season was so extraordinary that the U.S. President compared head coach Curt Cignetti to a legendary figure while also addressing Fernando Mendoza’s absence during the team’s White House visit.
The White House visit on May 11 was far from a routine ceremony. President Trump was in high spirits, spending considerable time praising Coach Curt Cignetti’s achievements, comebacks, and Indiana’s incredible 16-0 season.
However, before shifting focus to Cignetti, Trump highlighted the biggest talking point of the event: the absence of Heisman winner and No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
“This season was also historic because of starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Now, the reason he’s not here—he was so nice. He called because he actually has spring training. JD is a big fan of ours. You wouldn’t believe it because he didn’t show up,” Trump said. “I’m not happy, but that’s okay. The reason he didn’t is because he’s at spring training, right.”
President Donald Trump said Fernando Mendoza called him to say he couldn’t make the trip, adding that Mendoza is a big supporter of his.
Typically, the star player would be front and center at such events, but Mendoza was nowhere to be found. Trump explained that Mendoza personally called to inform him of his absence. The reason? He is currently at training camp with the Las Vegas Raiders, and the first-overall pick wants to avoid missing his first practice as a professional.
So it was a reasonable “snub,” one could argue. Trump had a humorous reaction to the news, jokingly saying he was “not happy” that his favorite player wasn’t there, but he respected the hustle. He told the crowd that Mendoza is a “big fan of ours” and a “winner” focused on his new job.
Even though the President missed the photo opportunity with the star quarterback, he clearly respected Mendoza’s discipline and the fact that he called to explain rather than simply not showing up. In the end, Trump predicted Mendoza would find success in the NFL soon.
Then Trump turned to praising Curt Cignetti. “I believe he’s the coach of the last decade. Nobody knew him. Nobody knew the team, and he ended up taking this team all the way. People were betting against you all the way.”
He was clearly a fan of Cignetti’s “hard-nosed, cocky” approach. Trump spent a good portion of his speech talking about Cignetti’s personality and was almost speechless about his famous 2023 recruiting line: “I win.” He playfully labeled him a “cocky guy” he doesn’t personally like, only to whisper, “I like this guy.”
He even compared Cignetti’s bold attitude to arguably the greatest athlete of all time, Muhammad Ali. “When you do that stuff, you have to be able to produce when you act that way. Muhammad Ali used to get up there, and you know, over the years, I’ve seen people that did it better than Muhammad Ali,” Trump said while mumbling.
However, Trump issued a warning to oddsmakers and the American people before concluding his speech: “Never bet against a guy like Curt.” And that pretty much summed up his message.