MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred meets US President Donald Trump to discuss issues pertaining to baseball amid Pete Rose controversy

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and President Donald Trump had a meeting at the White House on Wednesday, where Manfred said he met him to discuss various issues concerning baseball.

As per Washington Post, an MLB official confirmed the visit. MLB, had in a statement said:
“President Trump is a longtime fan of baseball. As he has done in the past, Commissioner Manfred was pleased to visit the White House again to discuss issues pertaining to baseball with the President.”
While it hasn’t been confirmed over what the meeting was about, the Commissioner’s visit comes after Donald Trump made statements over Pete Rose.
In February, Trump had said that he was planning to issue a posthumous pardon to Pete Rose. Pete died in September. Back then, Trump had shared on Truth Social:
“Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning.”

It hasn’t been made clear as to why Trump would be pardoning Pete. The New York Post suggests that Pete had pleaded guilty to tax evasion and had even served five months in prison in 1990, Trump, however, hasn’t specifically mentioned this conviction when referring to a pardon.

Rob Manfred had been considering a petition that would make Pete Rose eligible for the hall of fame on March 1. This was just less than 24 hours after US President Donald Trump made his stand very clear.
However, this update could be seen as a change of what the decision was, since Manfred had no intentions of giving Pete Rose the Hall of Fame consideration. Back then, he had told The Athletic:
“I believe that when you bet on baseball, from Major League Baseball’s perspective, you belong on the permanently ineligible list, When I dealt with the issue, the last time he applied for reinstatement, I made clear that I didn’t think that the function of that baseball list was the same as the eligibility criteria for the Hall of Fame. That remains my position. I think it’s a conversation that really belongs in the Hall of Fame board. I’m on that board, and it’s just not appropriate for me to get in front of that conversation.”
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