The celebration centered around a football team, but President Donald Trump was talking about baseball at the White House on Thursday afternoon.
More specifically, his dissatisfaction with the current MLB product.
Trump was hosting Inter Miami, the 2025 MLS Cup champions that includes global soccer legend Lionel Messi, when he decided to bring a little baseball into the conversation.
“I love sports and I watched my friend A-Rod with George Steinbrenner — we were sitting in his booth, just the two of us,” Trump said, looking at Alex Rodriguez, who was sitting to his left in the crowd. It appeared that Rodriguez was at the White House for a different occasion, as Trump mentioned that he had asked him to come to the American League celebration.
“He won’t have anyone but me,” Trump continued, speaking of legendary New York Yankees owner Steinbrenner. “He liked me, didn’t he? He liked me, he liked you. He liked almost no one else.”
Then, today Trump tried out MLB, a product he doesn’t like.
“It was a World Series when baseball was hot — it’s not hot anymore, I’ll be honest with you,” Trump said, without elaborating. “They’re doing things wrong.” “But when baseball was hot as a gun, I would sit down [with Steinbrenner] And I’ll watch the Yankees. “They will have 30 seats, and it will just be me and him.”
The lack of an explanation from Trump can only lead to speculation about why he doesn’t like sports today, but there is some discussion about the game and how MLB manages its product.
Among them are large markets versus small markets, where salaries continue to rise without a salary cap.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a prime example, continuing their spending spree this offseason after defending their World Series title in a thrilling seven-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays last season.
But while the Dodgers have the highest payroll in the league ($396 million), the New York Mets ($368.66 million), Yankees ($325.82 million) and Philadelphia Phillies ($311.18 million) aren’t far behind.
But when they face teams like the Miami Marlins ($78.11 million), Cleveland Guardians ($94.75 million) and Washington Nationals ($102.41 million), the talent gap can sometimes lead to lopsided matchups.
MLB has a crucial year ahead, though all that could change if a salary cap is implemented in collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
But the MLB Players Association doesn’t appear to want to set a cap at all, which could lead to some tense negotiations and a potential lockout as the current CBA expires at the end of the year.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred also visited the White House in April 2025, where he and Trump discussed baseball-related issues.
Manfred’s arrival in the nation’s capital came after Trump said he would pardon the late Pete Rose, the historic MLB captain, while criticizing the league for barring him from the Hall of Fame over gambling.
Rose was posthumously removed from MLB’s permanent ineligible list in May 2025, allowing him to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Before MLB begins its 2026 season, the World Baseball Classic will be held where games have already begun.
Team USA, fielding one of its best rosters ever, will begin the tournament on Friday in Houston against Brazil.