Trump renews call for Pete Rose pardon, saying MLB’s all-time hits leader was ‘mistreated’

Donald Trump has renewed his call to pardon the late Pete Rose, saying the baseball star was “mistreated” after his gambling led to a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball and exclusion from the Hall of Fame. Trump said he would also pardon Rose for federal tax charges to which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990.

Rose had 4,256 career hits, the most in MLB history, and died aged 83 last September without entering the Hall of Fame. Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Rose and other deceased players from MLB’s ineligible list in May 2025, making Hall consideration possible, but the league does not control Hall voting; writers and Hall committees do. Trump said Manfred had agreed to act on the matter before Rose died, and Manfred later cited the president as one of several voices supporting the ban’s removal.