Donald Trump Participates in Tomahawk Chop During Game 4 of World Series

Former U.S. president Donald Trump was in attendance at Atlanta's Truist Park for Game 4 of the World Series on Saturday. He participated in the tomahawk chop from his suite, where he watched the game with former first lady Melania Trump.

Trump called the Major League Baseball office earlier this week to request tickets to the game, according to Braves CEO Terry McGuirk. On Saturday, though, Trump sent a statement to his mailing list via email that he had been invited to the game by commissioner Rob Manfred and Yankees president Randy Levine, per Jay Busbee and Hannah Keyser of Yahoo! Sports. The league later refuted that claim.

With the team playing on the World Series stage, the discussion around the tomahawk chop and the Braves team name has gained additional focus. On Tuesday, Manfred defended the team name and fans' use of the chop, claiming that the Native American community in that region is "wholly supportive" of the team name and the chop, an assertion refuted by many Native American groups nationwide.

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"It’s important to understand that we have 30 markets around the country," Manfred said, per The Athletic. "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."