NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred met this week at the White House with President Donald Trump.

"President Trump is a longtime fan of baseball," MLB said in a statement Thursday. "As he has done in the past, Commissioner Manfred was pleased to visit the White House again to discuss issues pertaining to baseball with the president."

The meeting took place Wednesday and was first reported by The Washington Post.

Manfred's visit to the White House came after Trump said in February that he would pardon baseball great Pete Rose and criticized MLB for barring the all-time hits leader from the sport's Hall of Fame for gambling.

An investigation for MLB by lawyer John M. Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985 to '87 while playing for and managing the team. Following the investigation, Rose agreed to go on baseball's permanent ineligible list. People on the list are not eligible for election to baseball's Hall of Fame.

Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Rose prior to his death at age 83, filed a petition on Jan. 8 to reinstate Rose's eligibility. Manfred in 2015 rejected a previous petition for reinstatement by Rose.

"Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete pardon of Pete Rose, who shouldn't have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning," Trump posted on Truth Social in February. "He never betted against himself, or the other team. He had the most hits, by far, in baseball history, and won more games than anyone in sports history."

Trump did not say what the pardon would cover. Rose served five months in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion charges in 1990.

A 17-time All-Star, Rose is the career leader with 4,256 hits. He also holds the major league record for games played (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.