Aaron Judge Is an All-Time Great Yankee, but Why Did He Shake Trump's Hand? What Are His Political Leanings?

For the most part, Aaron Judge has tried to steer clear of politics. The Yankees slugger has been breaking records throughout his MLB career, and he remains one of the best players in the league. During a visit from President Trump at a recent game, though, Judge was photographed shaking the president's hand.

Given how divisive Trump is, this image led many to wonder what Judge's politics are more broadly. Here's what we know about his political beliefs.

Judge has steadfastly refused to engage with politics of any kind, and he has successfully navigated that even against a pretty political moment in American life. In 2020, when the Yankees wore Black Lives Matter jerseys and kneeled before the national anthem, Judge chose not to express any personal beliefs and instead explained how the team had decided to take those steps in the wake of George Floyd's death.

“We’ve got a lot of guys in this clubhouse with different beliefs, different feelings, and different walks of life,” Judge said, per The New York Post. “We wanted to respect all that. As a team, we came to the united decision to kneel right before the anthem."

Although Judge has occasionally found himself in a political situation, he has been pretty expert at keeping his mind on baseball and avoiding any discussion of politics at all.

President Trump was in the Bronx to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and he entered the Yankees' locker room prior to the game and was photographed shaking hands with Judge, the team's biggest star and also their captain.

"It's good to meet you," Judge was heard saying to the president, who responded, "You have that much muscle, you have to hit the ball perfect. You’re a fantastic player. … You’re an unbelievable player.”

Before meeting with Judge, Trump addressed the entire locker room, telling the team that he thought they would make the playoffs and "go all the way."

“I think we’ll start from tonight on and you’re going to do well,” he added.

The president watched from the stands as Judge hit two home runs to help the Yankees secure a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

This comes just days after Trump was spotted at the U.S. Open in New York, which used to be his home city before he largely abandoned it in favor of Florida after losing in 2020.

Although Judge was photographed with the president, he was careful not to say anything political about the handshake or anything else that happened.

“No matter your beliefs, I think just especially today, 9/11, the strength and resilience that New York City showed during one of the darkest hours, darkest times, it’s just an important day for all of us to come together, really,” Judge said, per The New York Post. “It’s just kind of a surreal moment, surreal day, and for us to come out with a big win, especially the last two losses we had, it was just an all-around great day.”