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President Donald Trump has tried to help college sports, and if it were up to him, he’d probably do the same for Major League Baseball.
The league’s current collective bargaining agreement expires in December, and with the teams perhaps as far apart as they have been since 1994, the 2027 season is in limbo.
Many may remember that the 2022 season was delayed due to an owners lockout after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired in December. However, the feeling at the time among baseball pundits was that if you thought it was bad, wait until 2026.
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Rob Manfred is not yet ready for President Donald Trump to get involved in Major League Baseball’s CBA negotiations. (Kevin Dietsch, Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Well, 2026 is here, and they weren’t kidding. The owners, for the first time since 1994, have formally proposed a salary cap, which players say is non-negotiable.
Before Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke with reporters and was asked by one if he thought Trump would intervene in the negotiations.
Manfred did not want to “speculate” on Trump’s potential involvement.
“Look, I think it would be completely inappropriate for me to speculate about what the president of the United States might or might not do in a hypothetical situation,” Manfred said. “We know that. He’s a huge sports fan and he’s very knowledgeable about the sports business, so it doesn’t surprise me.”
Manfred, however, said Trump is “interested,” but he doesn’t seem to want his help yet.
“Behind that I’ll go,” he said.
Last month, Trump said it was “shocking” that the league doesn’t yet have a salary cap.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred speaks during the renovation of the 2026 All-Star Legacy Veterans Multi-Service Center at the Veterans Multi-Service Center, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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“If you don’t have a salary cap, you don’t have a sport. They can’t help it. In sports, they can’t help it. Football has a salary cap. They should have done it a long time ago. I know sports so much, they should have done it a long time ago…
“Major League Baseball – frankly, it’s shocking that they didn’t put a cap on it many years ago. They had an opportunity to do it, and they blew it.”
The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Major League Baseball is in serious danger of losing games, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, for the first time since the 1995 season was reduced to 144 games as the players’ strike stretched into the following year. The 1994 playoffs were even canceled and the sport was hanging by a thread.
Today, baseball is experiencing a new boom, as rule changes implemented by Manfred have helped games move faster, drawing more fans to stadiums. Attendance could increase for a fourth consecutive year, for the first time since 2004-07. This is not yet the case, but summer is still young.
“The best way to lose momentum is to stay still,” Manfred said.
It was a rough start to the MLB Draft for commissioner Rob Manfred when he butchered the name of first overall pick Roch Cholowsky. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
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Earlier this year, Trump held a roundtable discussion on college sports and signed an executive order aimed at “saving college sports.” Unlike the NHL, NBA and NFL, MLB has never had a salary cap.
