‘He went through 40 years of hell’: President Trump says he would ‘pardon’ Pete Rose

USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectPresident Donald Trump has been pushing for a Pete Rose pardon for more than a year now. And on Monday, he made it clear that he still hasn’t given up on the idea.During a White House press briefing alongside UFC CEO Dana White, Trump said that he “would give Pete Rose a pardon” for the tax charges that the late MLB hits leader pleaded guilty to in 1990. Trump also insisted that the former Cincinnati Reds star had been “very mistreated” by baseball and said that Rose deserved to be in the Hall of Fame “a long time ago.”Pete Rose’s Long SagaRose finished his career with 4,256 hits, the most in MLB history. But he was banned from baseball in 1989 after an investigation found that he had bet on games, including Reds games, while managing the team.A year later, Rose pleaded guilty to two felony counts of filing false federal income tax returns after underreporting more than $300,000 in income from appearances, autograph sessions, memorabilia sales, and gambling winnings. He served five months in federal prison.Rose’s lifetime ban kept him off the Hall of Fame ballot for decades, and his requests to be reinstated were repeatedly denied, as was his request for the Hall to reconsider. He died in September 2024 at the age of 83.In March 2025, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would be “signing a complete pardon” for Rose. Two months later, commissioner Rob Manfred removed Rose from MLB’s permanently ineligible list, though his earliest chance at the Hall of Fame is the Classic Baseball Era Committee ballot in December 2027, per ESPN.’40 years of hell’On Monday, White was at the White House taking questions from reporters after Trump claimed he was “only kidding” about making him press secretary. When one reporter brought up Trump’s potential Rose pardon, White said that he supported it.“I don’t advise the president on anything ever, but yeah, I think it’s fair. I think it’s fair to pardon Pete Rose. Yes,” White said, via OutKick.“By the way, why does he need a pardon? He was not really convicted of a criminal,” Trump said before the reporter interrupted.“It was tax charges, sir,” the reporter said.“Oh, he did? I’d give Pete Rose a pardon,” Trump responded. “I think Pete Rose was very mistreated. He had 4,200-and-some-odd hits, way ahead of anyone else. A record that can’t ever be broken. And he was caught gambling, and now it’s legal. But he was gambling on his own team, Dana. He wasn’t gambling against [his team], that’s different.”“He was gambling. He shouldn’t have done it, but he went through 40 years of hell and they should be giving him a pardon. They should be getting him into the Baseball Hall of Fame a long time ago. I spoke to the commissioner about it. He agreed to do it, and then he waited though, and Pete Rose died. So, it didn’t help him too much, but I would give Pete Rose a pardon. I would do that,” Trump continued.Trump’s timeline doesn’t quite add up, though. Rose died in September 2024, months before Trump returned to office and before Manfred lifted the ban. That said, it’s still pretty clear that Trump supports Rose, even if he’s still fuzzy on the details.The post ‘He went through 40 years of hell’: President Trump says he would ‘pardon’ Pete Rose appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.