The O.C. Register and L.A. Times Struck Out with Their Trump-Dodgers Coverage

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July 24, 2026

The Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times managed to pull off front pages that came across less like a newspaper and more like a political campaign flyer.

While President Trump is actively trying to influence the 2026 midterm elections, the OCR and LAT decided to splash a large photo of Trump alongside the Los Angeles Dodgers across the top of Page One during their White House visit.

Then, in a move that would have made longtime owner of the OCR, Old Man Hoyles—who I grew up just down the street from on Victoria Drive in Santa Ana—and Otis Chandler of the LAT proud for all the wrong reasons, the sports front led with another oversized image from the same visit.

Really?

This is Los Angeles. The Dodgers belong to one of the most diverse fan bases in America, a fan base that overwhelmingly calls Southern California home. Many of those fans watched friends, neighbors, and family members struggle through federal immigration raids, budget cuts, and policies that hit Los Angeles particularly hard. Whether you support Trump or not, pretending that politics wasn’t sitting front and center in that photo is impossible.

Many fans believed the White House visit was the wrong decision given the events of the past year. Southern California was still reeling from large-scale ICE enforcement actions that disrupted neighborhoods, separated families, and left many immigrant-owned businesses struggling or forced to close. Industries that depend on immigrant workers—from restaurants and construction to landscaping and agriculture—have since encountered persistent labor shortages, with employers reporting difficulty filling jobs.

For many Angelenos, those events remain fresh, making the Dodgers’ appearance alongside the president seem less like a ceremonial championship visit and more like an unnecessary political statement.

Old Man Hoyles and Chandler knew newspaper and sports pages were supposed to report on the game, not become a second front page for political imagery. If they saw this, they would probably be shaking their heads, muttering something unprintable, and reaching for the layout pencil.

Newspapers are supposed to know their audience. On this one, the OCR and LAT seemed to forget who buys tickets at Dodger Stadium.