New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge had one of the best games of his season on Thursday nights after having met President Donald Trump earlier in the evening.
Just four days after visiting Queens to watch the US Open men’s singles final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Trump returned to New York City to take in the Yankees’ game on the 24th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
After the baseball team secured the stadium for Trump’s arrival, the President visited the Yankees’ clubhouse to greet the players.
Trump was photographed shaking hands with Judge and made a comment about the slugger’s physique: ‘What a good player, what a player. So you have that much muscle, you have to hit the ball far.’
The President then took a picture with almost all of the team before first pitch against the Detroit Tigers.
In his first at bat, Judge swung on a 3-2 count to smack a 413-foot home run to open the lead for the Yankees.
Yankees captain Aaron Judge (L) shakes hands with President Donald Trump on Thursday
Judge hit two home runs in the game to beat the Tigers 9-3 with the President watching on
Judge would double his luck in the third inning. In his second at bat, with the Yankees up 3-1, he took the second pitch from Sawyer Gipson-Long 434 feet deep to extend the lead to 4-1 and passed New York legend Joe DiMaggio on the team’s all-time home run list.
Two batters later, Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton – who was not in the picture with Trump – also socked a home run to make it a 5-1 lead.
When all was said and done, the Yankees were able to avoid an embarrassing sweep thanks to a 9-3 victory.
Trump’s presence at Yankee Stadium came a little over 24 hours after far-right ally Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University.
Much like the scene in Flushing Meadows over the weekend, security outside the ballpark was tight. Each entrance to the ballpark featured standard metal detectors, but also Secret Service agents. Some gates even had sniffer dogs while the NYPD had helicopters hovering above.
Gates were opened three hours before first pitch as long lines began to form, even when ticket holders were ‘strongly urged to arrive as early as possible’ by the team.
The Secret Service even posted a statement informing attendees that extra time would be necessary – also asking fans to ‘consider leaving your bags at home to help speed up the security screening process’.
Once inside, fans noticed that snipers had taken up positions on the roof of the famous ballpark.
Unlike the US Open, Trump and his entourage sat behind security glass at Yankee Stadium
When Trump took his seat in a suite, he did so with thick security glass protecting him – unlike at the US Open.
Trump was joined by multiple high-ranking cabinet officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, senior council Boris Epshteyn, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte.
Additionally, multiple notable New York Republicans joined him on the anniversary of the tragic terrorist attacks.
Former Long Island congressman and current EPA director Lee Zeldin attended, as did former House Republican Committee chair Elise Stefanik and New York City representatives Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, and Nicole Malliotakis.
Former Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly was also among the attendees spotted in the Trump suite.
