Donald Trump to attend World Series but critic of the US President will steal the limelight

He may hold the highest office in the land but Donald Trump will be outshone by a vocal critic in front of a huge American audience.

President Donald Trump will be overshadowed at Game 5.

A day after US President Donald Trump said he plans to attend Game 5 of the Major League Baseball World Series, the Washington Nationals announced the ceremonial first pitch at that game against the Houston Astros will be thrown by chef Jose Andres, a vocal critic of Trump.

Andres, a prominent local restaurant owner and humanitarian, has repeatedly opposed Trump’s immigration policies and his government’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

He has also tangled with Trump in court. Four years ago, Andres withdrew from plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in Washington following Trump’s controversial comments about Mexican immigrants during the presidential campaign.

Trump Old Post Office, which runs the hotel as the landlord under a lease with the General Services Administration, sued Andres’ companies, Think Food Group and Topo Atrio, in July 2015 for breach of contract and claimed damages in excess of $10 million.

“The landlord allowed Mr. Trump to saddle us with the burden of his inflammatory statements, such that operating a high-end Spanish restaurant is no longer viable for us at this location,” Andres’ companies said in a statement the following month.

Andres’ companies filed a counterclaim, and the case in D.C. Superior Court was settled in 2017.

Trump wouldn’t be too pleased about a vocal critic throwing the first pitch.

The Nationals made the announcement Andres would throw the first pitch on Saturday (AEDT). Major League Baseball said the decision on first pitches is made jointly between the host team and MLB.

However, after the announcement of Andres’ involvement was made, it was revealed Trump is planning to arrive at Game 5 after the first pitch and leave before the final out.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said he spoke with Trump, and the president decided it would be least disruptive to fans to do it that way.

Washington leads Houston 2-0 in the best-of-seven series going into Game 3 today, so a Game 5 on Monday is not yet assured.

On Friday, Andres tweeted that he was “humbled” to be chosen, but he’s also hoping for a Nats clean sweep.

“I really hope that by Saturday night all of WASHINGTON will be celebrating a championship,” he wrote.

Please, I don’t want anyone to be nervous but......anyone has a baseball ball? Just in case, I need to practice...@Nationals @astros @MLB 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/XE2AMjN2II

— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) October 25, 2019

Trump would be the first sitting president to attend a World Series game since George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at New York’s Yankee Stadium before Game 3 in 2001.

Other presidents who attended a World Series game were Woodrow Wilson (1915), Calvin Coolidge (1924), Herbert Hoover (1929, 1930, 1931), Franklin Roosevelt (1933, 1936), Dwight Eisenhower (1956), Jimmy Carter (1979) and Ronald Reagan (1983).

Originally published as Donald Trump to attend World Series but critic of the US President will steal the limelight