WASHINGTON — Championship sports teams visiting the White House have historically been bathed in a benign, bipartisan glow. The athletes smile, the president salutes them and makes a joke or two, and a fine photo is had by all.

Not in the era of President Trump.

When the Boston Red Sox gathered on the South Lawn on Thursday afternoon to be honored by the president for winning last year’s World Series, the team picture was incomplete, with Manager Alex Cora and some of Boston’s biggest stars absent in protest of the way Mr. Trump handled the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

“I’ve used my voice on many occasions so that Puerto Ricans are not forgotten, and my absence is no different,” Mr. Cora, who was born in Puerto Rico, explained in a statement released on Sunday. “As such, at this moment, I don’t feel comfortable celebrating in the White House.”

The players who joined him in boycotting the White House were either Latino or African-American, and included Mookie Betts, the reigning American League Most Valuable Player, and David Price, whose pitching during the World Series was central to Boston’s victory.