Trump praises Braves, jabs Mets at event with former Atlanta manager Brian Snitker
President Donald Trump took a playful jab at the New York Mets’ 2026 woes and praised the Atlanta Braves’ season Wednesday at an event in Marietta, Ga.
Trump was joined onstage by former Braves manager Brian Snitker and Mike Plant, the president and CEO of Braves Development Company.
“So, I like baseball,” Trump said, “but this guy (Plant) has done such a great job. You know, the Mets have the highest salary in baseball, and they lose all the time. And I say, ‘Maybe we can steal this guy.’ …
“You don’t realize how good he is. There are teams like that, where they never go down. Then you have other teams — ‘We’re rebuilding.’ They’ve been rebuilding for years. I don’t want to mention teams cause I know all the owners. They’re all friends of mine. I’ll get myself in trouble. This guy never rebuilds. He just stays at the top. He’s amazing.”
Trump introduces Mike Plant and Brian Snitker: “The Mets have the highest salary in baseball and they lose all the time. And I say, maybe we could steal this guy! But the way the Atlanta Braves have been managed for years — he’s the CEO of the Atlanta Braves.” pic.twitter.com/n8zSTgghHL
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 22, 2026
Plant operates primarily on the real estate arm of the Braves, overseeing projects like The Battery and the club’s spring training complex. Alex Anthopoulos is Atlanta’s general manager and president of baseball operations.
As the only publicly traded team in Major League Baseball, the Braves, operating as Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc., have several offshoots, including Braves Development Company.
The trio was serenaded by fans doing the “Tomahawk Chop” gesture, a popular celebration in the region that has been criticized for being insensitive by some Native Americans.
“They say you’re not allowed to do that,” Trump told the crowd. “Do it.”
Trump himself took part in the gesture, if ever so slightly.
In 2021, ahead of Game 1 of the World Series, commissioner Rob Manfred defended the Braves’ name and continued use of “the Chop.” The name and gesture have continued even after other teams, including the Cleveland Guardians and the NFL’s Washington Commanders, changed their names.
“It’s important to understand that we have 30 markets around the country,” Manfred said. “They aren’t all the same. … The Native American community in that region is wholly supportive of the Braves program, including ‘the Chop.’ For me, that’s kind of the end of the story. In that market, we’re taking into account the Native American community.”
Snitker, 70, retired at the end of last season after a lengthy stint as the club’s manager. Over his time, he helped guide the Braves to six consecutive division titles, a National League pennant and a World Series championship in 2021, the organization’s first since 1995.
He remains part of the club in an advisory role. In April, Snitker was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame. He is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, as Trump erroneously said.
The duo’s appearance comes one day before the Los Angeles Dodgers are set to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win. It will be Los Angeles’ second visit under the Trump administration.
Los Angeles also visited the White House in 2021 during the Biden administration.
Trump is a noted baseball fan and recently took a stance in MLB’s labor talks, siding with the owners on the subject of a salary cap, which the MLB Players Association has strongly opposed.
“If you don’t have a salary cap, you don’t have a sport, because they can’t help themselves,” Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One, per audio published online by the White House. “They should have done it a long time ago.”
He added it was “shocking, frankly, that they didn’t put a cap on many years ago.”