Eddie McGuire’s son Joe was front and centre at the White House as his college football team was honoured by Donald Trump and his Vice President JD Vance – who had a very unfortunate mishap during the ceremony.

McGuire, 24, was the punter for the Ohio State Buckeyes when they won the national championship in January by beating Notre Dame.

He and his teammates had front-row seats as Vance – who earned a bachelor’s degree at Ohio State in 2009 – made headlines with the sort of fumble football stars get benched for.

The ceremony briefly went awry when Vance attempted to hoist the trophy in the air, as the base became detached from the top before he fumbled it to the floor in a surreal scene.

Vance rushed to pick it up before Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson tried to help him put the trophy back together.

However, Vance opted to simply hold the top of the trophy up while the base was left on a nearby table – with Trump holding a Buckeyes helmet at the same time.

Eddie McGuire’s son Joe (circled) joined his Ohio State teammates as they were congratulated on their national championship by Donald Trump and JD Vance

Vice President Vance – who attended Ohio State – fumbled the trophy and dropped the base as the team watched at the White House

Donald Trump is pictured reacting to the unfortunate mishap

The president could be seen grimacing nearby following Vance’s unfortunate moment.

Opponents of the Trump administration used the gaffe as a chance to bash Vance online.

‘Everything this administration touches turns to s***e,’ one wrote on X.

‘So symbolic. Everything with Trump on it, falls apart,’ a second added.

‘Breaking the trophy just like Trump’s regime is breaking the country,’ a third said.

Following the accident, Vance took to X to try and play off his fumble of the trophy.

‘I didn’t want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy so I decided to break it,’ he joked.

Trump also made a minor gaffe during the ceremony, as he accidentally referred to former Ohio State pᴀsser Will Howard as ‘Tennessee quarterback Will Howard’ when discussing Ohio State’s win over the Volunteers during the College Football Playoff.

Joe McGuire’s right foot helped the Buckeyes to the тιтle after a chance conversation set him on the path to becoming their punter

Ohio State defeated Notre Dame to take the тιтle back in January (McGuire is pictured)

Joe McGuire is pictured with his famous father Eddie and John Travolta

Vance tried an attempt at humour when he noticed someone in the crowd donning a hat representing the school’s arch-rival, Michigan.

The vice president called the fan out and even threatened to send the Secret Service their way.

‘I don’t know who let the guy over in the corner here in a Michigan hat into the celebration, but I’m about to tell the Secret Service you’ve got a dangerous weapon, sir,’ he cracked.

McGuire became the Buckeyes’ punter after a chance conversation during the Covid pandemic.

‘One of my friends sort of came up to me in Covid and said you’ve got a decent leg, why don’t you try this thing called Prokick Australia,’ he explained. 

‘What the world is like at the moment, anything I did in Melbourne there are going to be some people who say you only did that because of your dad. 

‘This is just one thing that it just does not matter who your dad is or whatever. You have to put in the work and you have to be good enough, or else there’s just no way they play you at a school like this.’

His father was surprised by his journey, but highly supportive.

‘It was very impressive to watch a young kid have a go at this outlandish sort of dream,’ Eddie said of his son.

‘He literally started from scratch … and now he’s playing in front of 100,000 every week.’