Donald Trump smiles and poses with Alex Rodriguez years after branding MLB great a ‘druggie’ and a ‘joke’
While welcoming the MLS champions to the White House on Thursday, President Donald Trump also took time for a seemingly pleasant meeting with Alex Rodriguez, the steroid-linked baseball legend he’s repeatedly called a ‘druggie’ and a ‘joke.’
‘President @realDonaldTrump x @AROD,’ read a post on X alongside a photo of the two seated and smiling in the Oval Office.
The exact details of Trump’s meeting with Rodriguez remain unclear. The World Series champion and 14-time All-Star has a number of high-profile business interests, including an ownership stake in the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rodriguez was also seen speaking with Attorney General Pam Bondi in another apparent case of strange political bedfellows.
The 50-year-old Rodriguez supported Joe Biden’s successful 2020 presidential campaign against Trump, who previously maligned the scandalized slugger over his admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs.
A friend to late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Trump routinely criticized the first-overall draft pick for the scandal.
Trump had a seemingly pleasant meeting with Rodriguez in the Oval Office on Thursday
Rodriguez was also seen speaking with Attorney General Pam Bondi in another apparent case of strange political bedfellows. A-Rod supported Joe Biden’s successful 2020 campaign
Alex Rodriguez and Attorney General Pam Bondi speak during an event at the White House
In one 2012 social media post, Trump wrote ‘it was only drugs that made [Rodriguez] great.’
A year later, Trump wrote: ‘Druggie @AROD is now scheming to sue the @Yankees. He will go down as the biggest sports embarrassment of all time.’
Rodriguez filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the team’s physician in 2013, alleging he misdiagnosed a hip injury, but dropped the suit a year later.
Speaking to the Inter Miami players, Trump decided to take a few shots at the current state of Major League Baseball.
Without getting into specifics, Trump said baseball is ‘not as hot’ these days, which, despite modest audience growth, is an undeniable truth. The 1978 World Series between the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers averaged 44.2 million viewers, while the same two teams managed only 15.1 million viewers per game in 2024.
Trump also remembered his relationship with Steinbrenner, who passed away in 2010.
‘[Steinbrenner] liked me, I liked him and we both liked nobody else,’ Trump said.
