President Trump reportedly caught both White House aides and the New York Yankees by surprise when he said Thursday at a White House coronavirus briefing that he was accepting an invitation by the team to throw out a ceremonial first pitch and would do so on Aug. 15.
Trump backtracked from that plan Sunday, saying in a tweet that he would not be able to throw out the pitch that day because a “strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else” would prevent him from traveling to New York at that time.
By that time, White House staff had informed the Yankees that Trump had an unspecified prior engagement on Aug. 15, according to a report Monday in the New York Times. Trump did have a standing invitation to throw out a first pitch from Yankees President Randy Levine, whom he called a “great friend,” but nothing specific had been arranged. Continue reading.