NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump attended the New York Yankees game on Thursday night, drawing a mixed reaction while marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Authorities installed security glass outside an upper level suite on the third base side, over the visiting Detroit Tigers dugout, for the president. During the national anthem, Trump was shown on the stadium jumbotron and received boos from some in the crowd, cheers from others.
When Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit a homer in the bottom of the first, Trump stood and applauded, as did members of an entourage that included Attorney General Pam Bondi and Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman who is now head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the second inning, Trump's attendance was announced and he was shown on the big screen for an extended period while “Hail to the Chief" played. He smiled and pumped his fist repeatedly. Boos were heard at first, but many in the crowd cheered.
A presidential visit always prompts extra security at sporting events, but things 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 ceremony inside as an added precaution.
Trump’s attendance recalled President George W. Bush’s ceremonial first pitch 24 years earlier as the Yankees played the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series — a moment that came to symbolize national resilience after the attacks mere weeks earlier.
Trump stopped by the home team's clubhouse about 15 minutes before the game. He shook hands with the players and team staff members and talked about being close for years with late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
Trump predicted the Yankees would win, noting of his past attending games 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.
Trump wished the players “a lot of luck.” He recalled that after the Yankees' archrival, the Boston Red Sox, visited him in the Oval Office earlier this summer, they went on a long winning streak.
Manager Aaron Boone said before Trump's arrival that Yankees leftfielder Anthony Volpe had quietly been playing with a partial labrum tear in his left shoulder. As he greeted him, Trump patted him softly on the shoulder.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Yankees and their fans have marked the solemn occasion during the seventh-inning stretch by singing “God Bless America” in addition to the traditional “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and they were doing so again Thursday. They also held a moment of silence before the first pitch.
With Trump on hand, all stadium entrances featured metal detectors and Secret Service agents, some with sniffer dogs, while New York Police Department helicopters thundered overhead.
Authorities opened the gates three hours before the first pitch, and long lines began forming even before that, though most of the crowd moved into the stadium smoothly. The Yankees said ticketholders were “strongly urged to arrive as early as possible.” The Secret Service also said extra time would likely be needed while asking fans to consider leaving their bags at home.
That followed Trump's appearance at the U.S. Open men's final in Queens last weekend sparking security lines long enough that some fans didn’t make it to their seats until more than an hour into the match, despite organizers delaying its start by 30 minutes.
Thursday's game is Trump’s eighth major sporting event since returning to the White House in January. He attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, New Jersey, 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 for each of baseball’s 30 teams that ring the stadium's upper level 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 flashed his picture on their stadium's big screen.
Trump was born in the New York borough of Queens and, though he's 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 haven't always been welcomed by fans.
During his first term in 2019, Trump tried to make a low-profile appearance as the Washington Nationals hosted the Houston Astros in the World Series, but was booed roundly when shown on the stadium's big screen. There were even chants of “Lock him up!”
