One of sports’ greatest rivalries appears to be no longer.
Alex Rodriguez met with President Trump at the White House Thursday, years after Trump routinely tweeted negatively about him during his Yankees tenure. The pair posed for a photo in the Oval Office, which was posted on The White House X account with the caption “POTUS x @AROD.”
The former baseball star and current Timberwolves co-owner was part of an investment group that bought the rights to the president’s Washington, D.C. hotel for $375 million in 2022. The property was ultimately sold to a lender at a foreclosure auction in 2024.
Also at the White House was Inter Miami, who celebrated its championship and gifted the president a commemorative soccer ball. Rodriguez was present for the ceremony.
“Alex Rodriguez is a Miami legend and the White House was excited to have him join the celebration of the 2025 MLS Cup Champions Inter Miami FC,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Front Office Sports.
Rodriguez went to high school in Miami; beyond the local connection, his ties to the soccer team are unclear. Inter Miami and the Timberwolves did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Despite the celebration being centered on the soccer team, the president acknowledged Rodriguez’s presence and went on a tangent about baseball.
“I love sports and I watched my friend A-Rod with George Steinbrenner,” he said while looking at the 22-year MLB veteran. He later spoke about MLB, saying he feels the league is not as popular as it once was and that it makes bad decisions.
His description of A-Rod as a “friend” drastically differs from his prior social media posts. Trump tweeted about Rodriguez over 60 times from 2012 to 2014, mostly regarding his usage of performance-enhancing drugs with the Yankees.
“The @Yankees must re-negotiate @AROD’s contract. He is not the same player without drugs,” he tweeted in May 2012.
“I don’t think Obama will do well in the second debate–he is psyched out just like A-Rod,” he tweeted in October 2012. Rodriguez was batting .100 through two games in the playoffs at the time of the tweet.
“Druggie A-Rod, @MLB’s biggest fraud, is lucky George Steinbrenner is no longer with us. @Yankees would have voided his contract,” he posted in April 2013.
“It is a great victory for NYC that A-Rod will never wear pinstripes again,” he tweeted in August 2013.
Trump did provide insight into the root of his disdain for the MLB star.
“Asking why my dislike of A-Rod–dishonorable dealings with me on an apartment deal,” he tweeted in 2012.
Any grudge Trump had with the former Yankee appears to be buried, with the president having nothing but good things to say about his former foe on Thursday.
