Jimmy Kimmel had a parting gift ready Tuesday night for his hometown champions—just in case their victory lap takes an unexpected political turn.
Welcoming UCLA women’s basketball standouts Lauren Betts, Gabriela Jaquez, Angela Dugalić, Kiki Rice, and head coach Cori Close to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host used the team’s recent NCAA title win as the setup for a classic jab at Donald Trump.
“Have you heard from our current president?” Kimmel asked. When the team said they had not, Kimmel continued with a contingency plan.
“In the event that you do get invited to the White House and you decide to go… I have something for you,” he said, producing a low-budget silver trophy that in no way resembles the actual NCAA National Championship Trophy from behind his desk.
The gag hinged on Trump’s well-documented pressure campaign that led Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado to gift him her Nobel Peace Prize medal.
“What I want you to do is bring this fake trophy we’ve made to the White House,” Kimmel explained. “He’s not going to know. But when you bring a trophy, he sometimes takes it and keeps it for himself.”
“You can say, ‘President Trump, we want you to have this,’” he added. “And he’ll be so happy, you’ll probably get an endowment… and you’ll be able to keep the real one.” He dubbed the move “the old switcheroo.”
The Bruins defeated South Carolina 79–51 on Sunday to secure the program’s first NCAA-era title, ending a decades-long title drought and capping a dominant 37–1 season.
Watch Kimmel’s full interview with the title-winning Bruins below:
