UCLA’s national champion women’s basketball team was given an eyebrow-raising political quest by late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

During a group interview on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Tuesday, a discussion with Lauren Betts, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jaquez, Angela Dugalić and coach Cori Close turned political.

After Kimmel pointed out that former President Barack Obama made a social media post congratulating the team on their championship win, the host asked if President Donald Trump had reached out yet.

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The UCLA Bruins women’s basketball team is honored at center court during a game between the Lakers and Oklahoma Thunder at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on April 7, 2026. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

The players answered “no” in response to Kimmel’s Trump question.

But then Kimmel steered the conversation deeper into an anti-Trump routine.

“I’m sure you know he’s busy. Um he’s in two weeks you’ll hear from him,” Kimmel said. “In the event that you do get invited to the White House and you decide to go to the White House, I have something for you.”

UCLA WINS FIRST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL NATIONAL TITLE IN PROGRAM HISTORY WITH DOMINANT WIN OVER SOUTH CAROLINA

Kimmel then pulled out a silver trophy that hardly resembled the NCAA championship trophy that sat on his desk.

“What I want you to do is bring this fake trophy we’ve made to the White House. He’s not going to know. But when you bring a trophy, he sometimes takes it and keeps it for himself. So, this is for you guys to take to the White House. And then you can say, ‘President Trump, we want you to have this.’ And he’ll be so happy. You’ll probably get an endowment and you’ll be able to keep the real one,” Kimmel said.

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Head coach Cori Close of the UCLA Bruins watches during the first quarter against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the NCAA women’s basketball national championship at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 5, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Close laughed at Kimmel’s joke, while the players lightly clapped their hands, exchanging light laughs.

Meanwhile, social media users criticized Kimmel for turning the sports interview into a Trump-focused rant.

“Even celebrating their championship he has to make it about himself and his hatred for Trump. What an a—hole,” one X user wrote.

One X user mocked Kimmel, writing, “What will he do when Trump is out of office? Is the show cooked?”

Another X user wrote, “This is funny, but I dislike that he used them to smite the frump.”

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UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) reacts while holding up the UCLA bracket sticker after UCLA defeats Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Jessie Alcheh/AP)

UCLA won its first women’s basketball national championship in program history this past weekend, defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks, the team led by Dawn Staley that had reached the national title game three consecutive seasons and won it in 2024, in dominant fashion, 79-51.

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Ex Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart responded to his former employer’s court filings. NASCAR insider Kelly Crandall shared Gabehart’s thoughts on the Cup Series team’s latest request in the ongoing legal battle.

JGR allegedly accused the former employee of leaking the organization’s sensitive data to the rival team. As per the stock car racing team, Gabehart circulated data, including drivers’ salaries, team payroll, sponsor revenue, and similar details. As a result, the organization has filed the lawsuit and is seeking over $8 million in damages for the data breach.

On April 2, Joe Gibbs Racing filed for additional discovery, stating that they had recently become aware of deleted texts between Chris Gabehart and Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson. Gabehart countered that he voluntarily and transparently disclosed the deleted messages. The former JGR employee further called this pursuit a “desperate” attempt and stated:

“JGR’s litigation strategy—file motion after motion, accuse first and ask questions later—cannot manufacture evidence of disclosure of confidential JGR information where none exists. JGR is clearly desperate. It has yet to identify a single verified instance in which Mr. Gabehart transmitted, disclosed, or used any JGR Confidential Information.“

Continuing, Chris Gabehart remained adamant that he did not share any sensitive information with any third party. Additionally, Spire Motorsports also claimed that the deleted texts contained no information related to Joe Gibbs Racing, nor do they want any.

As a result, Gabehart agreed to subpoena his phone carrier to recover the deleted texts with one condition. He wants to seek the discovery of the cell phones of Heather Gibbs, Eric Shaeffer, Dave Alpern, and Toni Rogers.

“These materials provide a comprehensive roadmap for JGR’s competitive strategies”: Joe Gibbs Racing veteran candidly shared his take on the alleged data breach by Chris Gabehart

In March 2026, Joe Gibbs Racing revealed that the team had hired a private investigator to follow Chris Gabehart ahead of the lawsuit. Later, the Cup Series team shared the findings as legal documents in the courtroom. The documents featured pictures of Gabehart meeting with Spire Motorsports owners in December 2025.

The meeting between the two parties was held near Spire Motorsports’ facility. Following that, Motorsports shared a report featuring Denny Hamlin’s take on the alleged data breach by his former crew chief. The #11 Toyota Camry XSE driver stated:

“The materials Gabehart took—including car setups, simulation files, post-race analytics, tire management strategies, fuel mileage calculations, and pit crew performance data—represent decades of JGR’s research, development, and innovation specifically designed to optimize speed and win races.”

“These materials provide a comprehensive roadmap for JGR’s competitive strategies and are the exact set of proprietary and confidential information any of JGR’s competitors would want in order to understand JGR’s processes, technological capabilities, and payment structures that have led to JGR’s overwhelming success,” he added.

Denny Hamlin concluded that Chris Gabehart’s actions “would cause major harm” to Joe Gibbs Racing. Meanwhile, Spire Motorsports also denied all the claims of gaining any sensitive information about JGR.