President Donald Trump attended the New York Yankees game Thursday night to mark the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, after taking part in a remembrance at the Pentagon earlier in the day. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Trump was expected to stop by the team’s locker room while the Yankees hosted the Detroit Tigers, and Boone said he hoped to "interact for a few minutes."
Security around both events was heightened after conservative activist and close Trump ally Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah on Wednesday. Authorities shifted the Pentagon observance indoors as a precaution when Trump attended the ceremony earlier in the day.
Stadium security was extensive well before the first pitch. Every entrance had metal detectors and Secret Service agents, some with sniffer dogs, and New York Police Department helicopters flew overhead. Yankee Stadium opened gates three hours before the game to help manage lines, and the Yankees urged ticketholders to arrive early. The Secret Service advised fans that extra time would be necessary and asked them to "consider leaving your bags at home to help speed up the security screening process."
Organizers installed security glass outside an upper-level suite on the third-base side above the Tigers' dugout and closed the service level at 5:30 p.m. for additional sweeps. Stadium scoreboard displays included a large Major League Baseball 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 circling the stadium’s upper level were lowered to half-staff after Trump issued an executive order honoring Kirk.
The Yankees continued their tradition of marking Sept. 11 during the seventh-inning stretch by singing "God Bless America" in addition to the traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The team held a moment of silence for Kirk before Wednesday’s game and flashed his picture on the stadium's video board.
Trump’s appearance at Yankee Stadium recalled President George W. Bush’s ceremonial first pitch at the 2001 World Series, a moment that became associated with national resilience weeks after the attacks. The visit was the third time a sitting president attended a Yankees game, following Bush’s 2001 appearance and President Warren G. Harding’s 1923 visit. The president planned to spend the night at Trump Tower after the game — a return to New York living arrangements he has rarely adopted since moving his primary residence to Florida in 2019.
The Sept. 11 visit was the eighth major sporting event Trump has attended since returning to the White House in January, joining stops at the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500, UFC events, the NCAA wrestling championships, the FIFA Club World Cup final and last weekend’s U.S. Open men’s final. Trump's presence at recent sporting events has at times lengthened security lines; his attendance at the U.S. Open final prompted delays that left some fans taking their seats more than an hour into the match despite a 30-minute later start time.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump "remains a New Yorker at heart." The president’s appearances at baseball games have yielded mixed responses from fans: during his first term, his low-profile appearance at the 2019 World Series drew boos and heckling when the stadium cameras showed him on the video board.
Trump’s attendance Thursday combined a national observance with a high-profile public appearance, drawing additional security and logistical measures at one of the country’s most visited sports venues on a day of remembrance.