Trump Threatens Stadium Deal Over Washington Commanders’ Name

President Donald Trump is threatening to hold up a new stadium deal for Washington’s NFL team if it does not restore its old name of the Redskins, which is considered offensive to Native Americans.

Trump also said Sunday that he wants Cleveland’s baseball team to revert to its former name, the Indians, saying there was a “big clamoring for this” as well.

The Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians have had their current names since their respective seasons in 2022, and both have said that they don’t plan to change them back.

Trump said that the Commanders would be “much more valuable” if they restored their old name.

“I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington,” Trump said on his social media site.

His latest interest in changing the names reflects his broader effort to roll back changes that followed a national debate on cultural sensitivity and racial justice. Washington announced it would drop its former name and logo in 2020 during a broader reckoning with systemic racism and police brutality.

The Commanders and the District of Columbia government announced a deal earlier this year to build a new home for the football team at the site of the old RFK Stadium, the place the franchise called home for more than three decades.

Trump’s ability to hold up the deal remains to be seen. President Joe Biden signed a bill in January that transferred the land from the federal government to the District of Columbia.

The provision was part of a short-term spending bill passed by Congress in December. Though D.C. residents elect a mayor, a city council and commissioners to run day-to-day operations, Congress maintains control of the city’s budget.

In a statement provided to ESPN’s John Keim, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson played down any potential ability by Trump to force a change.

“I am focused on getting the best deal for District taxpayers and getting the deal across the finish line,” Mendelson said in the statement. “I have heard from no – zero – District residents, complaining about the name change or saying this is an issue in connection with the stadium.”