President Donald Trump attended Thursday night’s New York Yankees game, drawing a mixed reaction as he marked the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, following a morning visit honoring victims at the Pentagon.
Authorities installed security glass outside an upper-level suite along the third-base side, overlooking the visiting Detroit Tigers’ dugout. During the National Anthem, Trump appeared on the stadium jumbotron, receiving a mix of boos and cheers from fans.
As he first took his seat, the president briefly waved to the crowd and gave a thumbs-up, though many fans missed the gesture because his arrival was not announced.
The stadium also played Trump’s unofficial campaign anthem, “God Bless the USA,” to little reaction. Chants of “USA! USA! USA!” echoed through the stands, largely in remembrance of Sept. 11 rather than in response to the president’s presence.
Earlier, Trump visited the Yankees’ clubhouse about 15 minutes before the game, shaking hands with players and staff. He spoke warmly of his long relationship with the late team owner George Steinbrenner, calling him “a great friend of mine, the whole family.”
Trump predicted a Yankees victory, joking about past outings with Steinbrenner: “We won every time I came.”
“You think that was easy sitting with him for a game? It wasn’t. It was brutal. But he won, and you’re going to win,” the president said.
He later added: “You’re going to go all the way, and you’ll get in the playoffs – and I think we’ll start off, how about tonight? We’ll start from tonight on, and you’re going to do well.” The Tigers beat the Yankees during the first two games of the series, Tuesday and Wednesday by a combined score of 23-3.
Trump said he wanted to “wish you guys a lot of luck. You’re great players, I know, every one of you.” He also recalled that the Yankees’ archrival, the Boston Red Sox, had visited him in the Oval Office earlier this summer and then went on a long winning streak.
Manager Aaron Boone said before Trump’s arrival that Yankees left fielder Anthony Volpe had quietly been playing with a partial labrum tear in his left shoulder. As he greeted him, Trump patted him lightly on the shoulder.
“It’s something that I’m excited to be a part of,” Boone said of Trump being on hand.
A presidential visit always prompts extra security at sporting events, but measures were heightened after conservative activist and close Trump ally Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah on Wednesday.
When Trump attended the Sept. 11 observance ceremony at the Pentagon earlier Thursday, authorities moved the event indoors as an added precaution.
Trump’s attendance recalled President George W. Bush’s ceremonial first pitch 24 years earlier, when the Yankees played the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series – a moment that came to symbolize national resilience after the attacks.
Since the attacks, the Yankees and their fans have marked Sept. 11 during the seventh-inning stretch by singing “God Bless America” in addition to the traditional “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and they did so again Thursday. A moment of silence was also observed before the first pitch.
Security at the stadium was tight, with metal detectors at entrances and Secret Service agents, some with sniffer dogs, while New York Police Department helicopters hovered overhead.
Gates opened three hours before the first pitch, and long lines began forming even before that, though most fans moved into the stadium smoothly. The Yankees strongly urged ticketholders to arrive early. The Secret Service warned that extra time would likely be needed for entry and asked fans to consider leaving bags at home.
Trump’s attendance at the U.S. Open men’s final in Queens last weekend had prompted long security lines, and some fans didn’t reach their seats until more than an hour into the match, despite organizers delaying its start by 30 minutes.
Thursday’s game was Trump’s eighth major sporting event since returning to the White House in January.
He has attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia, the FIFA Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and last weekend’s U.S. Open match.
The Yankee Stadium scoreboard featured a large MLB logo over an American flag and a red, white and blue ribbon under the inscription: “September 11, 2001 – We Shall Not Forget.”
The large American flag behind the left-field bleachers and the smaller flags representing each of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams were lowered to half-staff after Trump issued an executive order honoring Kirk. Before Wednesday’s game, the Yankees held a moment of silence for Kirk and displayed his photo on the stadium’s big screen.
Trump was born in the New York borough of Queens and, though he has lived in Florida in recent years, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he “remains a New Yorker at heart.” Still, Trump’s appearances at baseball games have not always been welcomed by fans.
During his first term in 2019, Trump attempted a low-profile appearance as the Washington Nationals hosted the Houston Astros in the World Series but was booed when shown on the stadium’s big screen, with chants of “Lock him up!”
