U.S. President Donald Trump received a mixed reaction from the crowd at Yankee Stadium in New York on Thursday night while marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Trump, 79, was seated behind installed security glass outside the upper-level box suite belonging to the Steinbrenner family, which owns the New York Yankees, on the third-base side over the Detroit Tigers’ dugout at the stadium.
During the U.S. national anthem, Trump was shown on the stadium jumbotron and received a mix of boos and cheers from the crowd, as can be heard in a video posted to social media by WFUV sports reporter Owen Kelty.
Trump continued to receive more cheers and boos as he saluted during the American national anthem.
He was seated next to Yankees team president Randy Levine and accompanied by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Lee Zeldin, a former New York congressman who is now head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the second inning, Trump’s attendance was announced and he was shown on the big screen for an extended period while Hail to the Chief played. He smiled and pumped his fist. Boos were heard at first, but many in the crowd eventually cheered.
He was also spotted dancing to the Village People’s Y.M.C.A., which was used during his 2024 campaign run. Trump completed more than 110 rallies and would use Y.M.C.A. at each rally as he exited the stage.
Dan Scavino, a White House deputy chief of staff, also shared a clip of Trump attending the game with fans in the stadium chanting “Donald Trump, Donald Trump” and “USA, USA.”
“Happening Now —The (crown emoji) of New York is so BACK,” he wrote on X.
The president left shortly after the seventh-inning stretch, which featured the singing of God Bless America, as it does at Yankees games, in addition to Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Trump was shown on the big screen three times in quick succession and the announcer said, “Welcome back, New York’s own, the 45th and 47th president,” and thanked Trump.
Before the game started, Trump stopped by the Yankee clubhouse. He shook hands with the players and team staff members and talked about being close for years with the late longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. He said of his past attending games with Steinbrenner, “We won every time I came.”
“You think that was easy, sitting with him for a game? It wasn’t. It was brutal. But he won, and you’re going to win,” Trump said.
The Yankees game is Trump’s eighth major sporting event since returning to the White House in January. He attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, N.J., the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia, the FIFA Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J., and the U.S. Open last weekend.
Trump was also greeted with a mix of cheers and boos when he arrived at the U.S. Open final last week, but people watching on TV were unable to hear the crowd’s response.
Any negative reaction to Trump’s presence wasn’t shown on ABC’s telecast, per standard policy, the U.S. Tennis Association said.
“We regularly ask our broadcasters to refrain from showcasing off-court disruptions,” the organization said in a statement.
— With files from The Associated Press