President Donald Trump announced last week that he would be throwing out the first pitch at the Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 15, claiming he was invited by team president Randy Levine.
“Randy Levine’s a great friend of mine from the Yankees,” Trump said while speaking from the White House on July 23. “He asked me to throw out the first pitch. And I think I’m doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium. And I said, ‘How’s the crowd going to be? And, it’s like, ‘You don’t have a crowd. There’s no such thing. It’s gonna be interesting.”
The only problem? The Yankees and White House staff didn't know about the trip, according to The New York Times:
"Mr. Trump had not actually been invited on that day by the Yankees, according to one person with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule. His announcement surprised both Yankees officials and the White House staff.
But Mr. Trump had been so annoyed by Dr. Fauci’s turn in the limelight, an official familiar with his reaction said, that he had directed his aides to call Yankees officials and make good on a longtime standing offer from Mr. Levine to throw out an opening pitch. No date was ever finalized."
The New York Times reports that after Trump's surprise announcement, White House staff scrambled to let the Yankees know the president was not available to throw out the first pitch on Aug. 15.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he decided to cancel his trip to Yankee Stadium.
Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2020