ATLANTA (AP) — Former Braves manager Brian Snitker sat up behind the podium in the press conference room at Truist Park one more time, and this time he was wearing a suit instead of a uniform.
With his family in the front two rows, Snitker reflected prior to his induction as the 42nd member of the Braves Hall of Fame before Atlanta played the Philadelphia Phillies. Even his son Troy Snitker, the Mets hitting coach who caught a last-minute flight after the Mets were postponed Saturday, was unexpectedly in attendance.
“It’s humbling, and just it’s a great feeling,” Snitker said. “Honestly feels really good to be in the presence of all (the inductees), those legendary Braves guys.”
Snitker, 70, is in his 50th year with the organization, which includes managing for 10 years from 2016-2025. He skippered the Braves to the 2021 World Series title and reached the playoffs seven times. The Braves won the NL East six straight years under Snitker and his career record was 811-668.
Snitker's scheduled pregame ceremony was moved indoors due to a steady drizzle at Truist Park that led to a rain delay. It was broadcast on the center field video board and included speeches from Chipper Jones, Terry Pendleton and Jeff Francoeur.
The Braves were besieged with injuries in Snitker's final season when they finished 76-86. He stepped down on Oct. 1, 2025, and a month later the Braves hired his longtime bench coach Walt Weiss to be the new manager.
The transition has been better than even the staunchest Braves fan could have hoped for. Despite injuries to major pieces of the projected starting rotation, the Braves entered Saturday's game at an MLB-best 19-8 and held a 6-game lead in the NL East.
“(Snitker) was around in spring training, and he’s been around here during the season, so we do a lot of the same things that he was wanting us to do when he was manager,” said center fielder Michael Harris II. “So yeah, it means a lot to this team and most of the guys that are here (played for him). Walt's done a good job. And I know that’s because he’s been tag teaming with Snit over these years.”
As well as the Braves have performed this season, Saturday was about looking back at Snitker's accomplishments in all of his roles with the organization. He is serving as senior adviser in the front office in 2026, which extends his career to 50 years with the Braves.
“I wasn’t doing anything but trying to be me,” Snitker said. “I’ve never tried to put on airs. I’ve never tried to be anybody but me. As a manager, I was talking about this with somebody last night, we have to do things the way we do them, because that’s how we do them. And I didn’t want to change. I just want to be the same guy every day. I know how hard this game is.”
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FILE - Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker walks back to the dugout after making a pitching change in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez,File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was reported uninjured and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after an unspecified threat. There did not immediately appear to be any injuries, and one law-enforcement official said a shooter opened fire.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall at the Washington Hilton as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. “Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck.
Some in the crowd reported hearing what they believed to be five to eight shots fired. The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump's speech — was immediately evacuated. Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not re-enter. Security outside was also extremely tight.
It was not immediately clear what happened. A law enforcement official confirmed there was a shooter but no further details were immediately available.
Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier stories follow below.
President Donald Trump and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after an unspecified threat. There did not immediately appear to be any injuries.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. “Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Donald Trump's attendance at Saturday's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington for his first time as president is putting his administration's often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.
Trump arrived Saturday night to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.
Trump was being watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.
The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Trump entered the subterranean banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.
Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.
Trump’s appearance is rekindling a longer running debate about the dinner and events like it — in particular, whether it is poor form for journalists to be seen socializing with the people they cover. The New York Times, for example, stopped attending the dinner more than a decade ago for that reason.
“What was once (a fairly long time ago) a well-intended night of fundraising and camaraderie among professional adversaries is now simply a bad look,” wrote Kelly McBride, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank.
Between berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like the Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.
On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the association "to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”
The WHCA president, CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang, said the organization was fighting for all different forms of the press that have a line in to the American people. “I don't think people realize how closely we are working with the White House,” she said on CSPAN before the dinner convened. “The relationship is important. It can be complicated. It can be intense. But it is robust.”
Welcoming guests, Jiang alluded to the contentious relationship in thanking Leavitt “for everything your team does to work with us every day, whether you like it or not.”
Veteran reporter Manu Raju of CNN, as he entered the Washington Hilton for the dinner, said it was not his role to express his opinion on Trump's relationship with the press. “I'm not an activist,” he said. “My job is not to protest.”
A few dozen protesters stood across the hotel in the runup to the event. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Pete Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign saying “Journalism is dead.”
Many reporters who attend consider it a valuable opportunity to get story ideas and establish personal connections with those in government, one that may pay dividends with returned telephone calls in the future.
Journalists often invite sources as guests at the dinner. It will be noticed Saturday whether administration officials who have also expressed hostility to the press will attend, and with whom they will be sitting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was invited by the New York Post; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were NBC guests.
The Associated Press invited a former Trump official that it sued last year. Taylor Budowich, a former White House deputy chief of staff who crafted communications policy, was a named defendant last year when the AP sued the administration after it reduced its access to the president because the news outlet did not follow Trump's lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
“We maintain professional relationships with people across the political spectrum because we are nonpartisan by design — focused on reporting the facts in the public's interest,” AP spokesman Patrick Maks said.
The White House correspondents will also hand out awards for exemplary reporting. That includes some stories that displeased Trump, such as one from the Journal about a birthday message Trump once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.
AP journalists Alanna Durkin Richer and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines pose for photographers at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump arrives to the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin speaks to the media after being removed from the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
People are seen outside of the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A woman is escorted from the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach Fla., Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
