In a social media post, Donald Trump called for pitcher Roger Clemens to be added the Baseball Hall of Fame, a day after Trump said he played golf with Clemens and his son Kacy.
Clemens is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history but was named in the 2007 Mitchell Report on steroids in baseball. Clemens has always denied allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs, but the links tainted the seven-time Cy Young winner (and home run king Barry Bonds) in the eyes of Hall of Fame voters.
Earlier in the year, Trump claimed credit for getting Pete Rose reinstated by Major League Baseball. Rose, who died in 2024, was banned by MLB in 1989 for gambling on baseball, but was removed from the permanently ineligible list in May by commissioner Rob Manfred. That opened the door for Rose to potentially appear on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Trump’s post on Sunday, Aug. 24, said that the Clemens is case is ‘going to be like Pete Rose where … they wouldn’t put him in the Hall of Fame until I spoke to the Commissioner, and he promised to do so, but it was essentially a promise not kept because he only ‘opened it up’ when Pete died and, even then, he said that Pete Rose only got into the mix because of DEATH. We are not going to let that happen in the case of Roger Clemens.’
Sunday’s statement – like previous Trump remarks on the topic – includes a fundamental misunderstanding of the Baseball Hall of Fame process. While the president demanded that MLB ‘put (Clemens) in NOW,’ the Hall of Fame conducts voting with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and the league or commissioner have no authority to unilaterally add players.
And unlike Rose – who never appeared on a Hall of Fame ballot – Clemens had his chance to be voted in, making 10 appearances on the BBWAA ballot from 2013-2022 after retiring but never reached the 75% threshold for induction.
Bonds – also tied to PEDs – appeared alongside Clemens every year, but baseball’s all-time home run leader also failed to get the required votes. Both players then appeared on a veterans committee ballot in 2022, coming up short again.
Clemens and Bonds could both appear on another veterans committee ballot in December, with contemporary era players considered by a 16-person panel for induction in 2026. But procedural changes instituted by the Hall of Fame earlier in 2025 could bar Clemens and Bonds from appearing on future ballots if they fail to receive at least five votes again this time around.
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