It is not every day that Reggie Jackson comes out and speaks, but when he does speak, it will be newsworthy. This time, the New York Yankees legend has pointed his criticism towards the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and his administration.
The former outfielder took to X and said, “What’s happening with our Sec of Defense. How do we get rid of all that experience at this time?”
Donald Trump‘s administration made some major changes in the military leadership amidst the ongoing tensions between the USA and Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked Army Chief Randy George to retire immediately, citing a leadership change.
Other reports also confirmed the removal of General David Hodne and Chaplain Corps leader William Green/
After seeing the changes made, Reggie Jackson came out on X and questioned Hegseth’s moves. He questioned why the Trump Administration has removed experienced leaders, especially during the war.
He wrote, “We’ve got a war going on, and we’re getting rid of most of our experience and knowledge built with uniform time.”
But this isn’t the first time he has criticized the Trump administration either. Previously, Reggie Jackson spoke against actions targeting Federal Reserve independence. He criticized a criminal investigation involving Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Jackson pointed out that President Donald Trump was trying to intimidate the Fed with threats of legal action. Jackson later thanked Jamie Dimon for supporting Powell and called the administration’s approach bullying in public.
Across both instances, Jackson framed his concerns around stability, experience, and protecting key national systems. But it’s not just Reggie Jackson who has a problem with President Trump. Even President Donald Trump has his problems with the MLB.
Donald Trump says MLB is not the same as before
The two might be totally unrelated, but Donald Trump is not happy with how the MLB is running at the current point in time.
President Donald Trump said that baseball is “not as hot” and compared today’s game to the earlier decades, pointing out the attendance numbers. The MLB reported 71.4 million in attendance in 2025, below 2007’s 79.5 million. Trump recalled games with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, where the Yankees alone used to draw around 4 million fans.
That memory is tied closely to Steinbrenner, who owned the New York Yankees from 1973 until 2010. This was the time when baseball was at its peak, and the Yankees had won 7 World Series under Steinbrenner.
Trump said, “We both liked nobody else,” reflecting Steinbrenner’s well-known aggressive leadership style. He also pointed out that from 2004 to 2008, the Yankees alone pulled 3.5 million attendance yearly.
The comments came while hosting Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF after their 2023 Leagues Cup win. Messi’s arrival in the MLS lifted attendance in MLS games, with Inter Miami games averaging over 21,000 fans per home game.
President Trump later changed course and called out the MLB for their decisions on Pete Rose and Roger Clemens. Rose has been banned since the 1989 gambling case, while Clemens never crossed 65% Hall of Fame voting threshold due to his PED accusations.
President Trump also praised his “friend” Alex Rodriguez, who was in attendance at the event. Voters have still not elected Rodriguez, who has hit 696 homers and has 2086 RBIs, into the Hall of Fame due to his PED cases.
This calling of A-Rod as a “friend” was a surprise to many, as Trump had earlier called him a “druggie”. But this shows the cultural shift in baseball, as although fans are happy that the time in the current time has been shortened from 3-hour games to 2 hours and 40 minutes. But fans might still want high-scoring games, even if it goes a little long.
