Trump Threatens To Block Stadium Deal Unless Washington Commanders Restores Old Name

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he would block a stadium deal for the Washington Commanders unless the National Football League (NFL) team returns to its former name, the “Washington Redskins.”

The team dropped the “Redskins” name in 2020 after criticism that it was offensive to Native Americans, rebranding as the Washington Football Team and later adopting the name Washington Commanders in 2022.

“The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this,” Trump stated in a Truth Social post.

In a subsequent post, Trump said the team would be “much more valuable” if it reverted to its original name and warned of potential restrictions if the team refused to do so.

“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,” he stated.

The Washington Commanders reached a $3.7 billion deal with the District of Columbia on April 28 to have the NFL team move back to the nation’s capital. The agreement will see the team play at the site of the defunct Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, which will be demolished. The stadium is scheduled to break ground in 2026 and open in 2030.

The team currently plays at Northwest Field in Landover, Maryland. Its lease is set to expire in 2031, though the agreement does not prevent the Commanders from moving to another venue.

In his post, Trump also urged the Cleveland Guardians baseball team to revert to its former name, the Cleveland Indians, saying that “massive numbers” of Indian people want the name change to happen.

“Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a country of passion and common sense,” he stated.

The Epoch Times has sought comment from both the Washington Commanders and the Cleveland Guardians but did not receive a response by publication time.

In November 2023, the Native American Guardian Association (NAGA) filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court of North Dakota calling for the restoration of the name Redskins to the NFL Washington team.

NAGA stated in the filing that the Commanders, formerly known as the Redskins, were “the only team in the NFL to honor an actual Native American.”

The National Congress of American Indians, which advocates for Native American communities, has previously expressed support for the team’s decision to retire the Redskins name.