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President Donald Trump reaffirmed his position that Pete Rose should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame on Friday.
Trump told reporters at the White House that his absence from the Hall of Fame is a “disservice.”
“I think Pete Rose should have been in the Baseball Hall of Fame a long time ago,” Trump said. “I think baseball did a great disservice by not respecting his accomplishments on the field.”
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Donald Trump supports Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame induction, a move that looks set to happen. (IMAGIN)
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Rose and several other players from the ineligible list in May 2025, allowing those athletes to be voted into the Hall of Fame. He admitted at an owners meeting that Trump’s support for Rose was one of the many factors that went into the decision.
“The president was one of a number of voices that supported the idea that this was the right decision,” Manfred said last May. “Obviously I have respect for the office and the advice he gave I was aware of, but I had a lot of other people weighing in on the subject as well.”
Trump wrote on Truth Social in March 2025 that he would pardon Rose. He and Manfred met in April about Rose’s Hall of Fame candidacy.
“Major League Baseball did not have the courage or decency to induct the late, great, Pete Rose, aka ‘Charlie Hustle’, into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Now he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected, even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who did, and can only be named with shame.!” Trump wrote.
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Donald Trump says Pete Rose should be inducted into the Hall of Fame immediately. (Getty Images)
“Anyway, in the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have played baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING. He never bet against himself or the other team. He had by far the most hits in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history. Baseball, which is, how cool it should be, elect Pete Rose, even though it’s way too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!”
Rose died in September 2024 at the age of 83 from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Rose admitted to gambling in 2004 after years of maintaining his innocence. He died in September 2024 and predicted 10 days before his death that he would not enter the Hall of Fame until he died, if at all.
It was found that Rose played for the Reds only to win while he was both manager and player.
