MLB Commissioner Plays Golf With President Trump; Renewed Life For Cuba Agreement? Second-Base For Lobbyist?

On 26 October 2019, The White House reported: “Today President Donald J. Trump played golf with Major League Baseball [MLB] Commissioner Rob Manfred and Senators Lindsey Graham [R- South Carolina] and David Perdue [R- Georgia].”

On 10 June 2019, Commissioner Manfred met in the Oval Office at The White House with President Trump for a “meeting on Major League Baseball’s efforts to combat human trafficking.”

That meeting was likely a result of a decision by MLB to retain Washington DC-based Ballard Partners to lobby [LINK To Filing] on “issues related to combating human trafficking.” A Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 filing with the United States Congress on 8 May 2019 listed Mr. Brian Ballard and Mr. Sylvester Lukis as lobbyists. The filing did not disclose payments to Ballard Partners.

A 7 April 2019 Tweet from The Honorable John R. Bolton, then-Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs: “Cuba wants to use baseball players as economic pawns—selling their rights to Major League Baseball. America’s national pastime should not enable the Cuban regime‘s support for Maduro in Venezuela.”

On 5 April 2019, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury rejected [LINK To Letter] an agreement [LINK] between MLB and the Republic of Cuba government-operated Federacion Cubana de Beisbol (FCB).

Previous Analysis:

10 June 2019
Cuba Lobbyist Works? President Trump To Participate In Oval Office Meeting With MLB To Discuss “Human Trafficking”
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2019/6/10/cuba-lobbyist-works-president-trump-to-participate-in-oval-office-meeting-with-mlb-to-discuss-human-trafficking?rq=MLB

9 April 2019
OFAC Responds To Major League Baseball Proposal For Players From Cuba
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2019/4/9/ofac-responds-to-major-league-baseball-proposal-for-players-from-cuba?rq=MLB

11 January 2019
MLB Might Consider Three Options To Obtain Support For Agreement With Cuba
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2019/1/11/mlb-might-consider-three-options-to-obtain-support-for-agreement-with-cuba?rq=MLB

20 December 2018
Another Obama (Ben Rhodes) Administration Legacy Decision Harms Major League Baseball
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2018/12/20/uppblm8km7qmk28ly7ilzjz7xgty54?rq=MLB

16 March 2016
New OFAC Regulation Benefits MLB Players; Performers & Teachers Too
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2016/3/16/pdx1fcle5mbj7202fg30lmjisro0kc?rq=MLB

29 February 2016
Some Parallels Between President Obama’s Baseball And President Nixon’s Ping Pong
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2016/2/29/some-parallels-between-president-obamas-baseball-and-president-nixons-ping-pong?rq=MLB