Trump Announces Presidential Medal of Freedom for Roger Clemens at Texas Rally

The announcement, made at a campaign event for Senate nominee Ken Paxton, links a civilian honors decision to an active midterm election rally, a combination that raises procedural questions about...

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday evening that former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, according to reporting by the Washington Examiner. Trump made the announcement during a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, held in support of Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton.

Clemens, who was raised in Houston, served as an introducer for the president at the San Antonio event before Trump revealed the forthcoming honor. The announcement was not made at a White House ceremony or through a formal executive proclamation posted to the Federal Register, which is the standard mechanism for Medal of Freedom designations. No date for the formal award ceremony has been publicly confirmed as of October 8, 2026.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded by the president under authority established by Executive Order 11085, signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and amended by subsequent administrations. Recipients are selected at the president's sole discretion, and no congressional approval is required. There is no statutory restriction on where or how a president announces an intended recipient.

Clemens compiled a 354-184 win-loss record over a 24-year career with teams including the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros, per Baseball Reference. He won the Cy Young Award seven times, a record, and was part of two World Series championship teams. He was raised in the Houston area, which places him within the political geography of the Texas Senate race that brought Trump to San Antonio.

Clemens's career has not been without public controversy. In 2012, a federal jury acquitted him of perjury, making false statements, and obstruction of Congress following testimony he gave before a House committee in 2008 regarding alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to court records from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Case No. 1:10-cr-00223. He was acquitted on all six counts. The House Government Reform Committee hearing at which he testified was a congressional record event, and the trial proceedings are part of the federal court record.

The rally at which Trump made the announcement was the third Texas visit by the president in support of Paxton's Senate campaign, as previously reported by The Congressional Times. Paxton, the former Texas Attorney General, is seeking the Republican nomination for the Senate seat in the November 2026 midterm elections.

The practice of announcing Medal of Freedom recipients at political rallies is not unique to the current administration. Presidents of both parties have used public events, including politically charged ones, to name honorees before a formal ceremony is scheduled. However, the specific combination of a contested Senate rally setting and a local sports figure from the relevant state has drawn notice from ethics observers in prior reporting cycles, though no federal law or executive order prohibits the practice.

The White House has not released a formal citation describing the basis for Clemens's selection, which is typically published at the time of or before the official ceremony. That citation, when released, would appear as a White House press release or in the Federal Register and would constitute the official record of the designation.

What remains unknown is the scheduled date and location of the formal Medal of Freedom ceremony, whether other recipients will be named in the same ceremony, and the official citation language that will accompany the award. The White House press office would be the authoritative source for those details. The Federal Register and White House.gov would carry the official executive documentation once the ceremony occurs.