Tony La Russa says the Red Sox had a good visit to Donald Trump's White House last month ... telling TMZ Sports they made the trip to show support for their country.
"The flag, anthem, White House," La Russa says ... "Anything that represents our government, we support."
Of course, some of Boston's biggest names decided not to go to 1600 Penn Ave. for political reasons ... guys like Mookie Betts and David Price, as well as manager Alex Cora, skipped it.
But, La Russa -- who's now the Sox's vice president -- says the guys that did go enjoyed it, saying, "Anything that represents the United States is a good experience."
As for how the team handled it in the locker room ... when we got Sox superstar J.D. Martinez out in NYC a few days ago, he said the trip did NOT divide the squad.