Trump Threatens Washington Commanders' RFK Stadium Deal Over Team Name
'Our country has far bigger problems! FOCUS on them, not nonsense,' Donald Trump tweeted in 2013. Then-President Barack Obama, Trump said, 'should not be telling' Washington, D.C.'s NFL team 'to change their name.'
But now, there is a need to focus on the nonsense, it seems. As President Trump continues to try to turn attention away from scrutinizing his relationship with the late alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, he posted twice on his Truth Social platform on Sunday about the name of the football franchise in the nation's capital as well as that of the MLB team in Cleveland, Ohio.
'The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team,' he posted. 'There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this 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. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!'
In a follow-up, Trump added: '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. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone. Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians. The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change. What he doesn't understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!'
(Dolan, a Republican who served five years in the Ohio House of Representatives and eight years in the state senate and whose father purchased the Cleveland baseball team in 2000, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2022 and 2024.)
Amid widespread concern about social injustices across the U.S. in 2020, both the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians decided to change their controversial names out of respect for Native Americans. Washington became the Washington Football Team that year, and in 2022 adopted the name the Washington Commanders, while the Cleveland Indians transitioned to its current name, the Cleveland Guardians, in 2021.
Read More: A Linguist's Analysis of the Redskins Defense
Trump was never a fan of the name changes, tweeting in 2020: 'They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!'
(Sen. Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has been mocked by Trump and other Republicans for her claims of Cherokee ancestry.)
Trump's urging of the sports organizations to reverse their rebrandings comes as his second-term Administration has targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in both the public and private sector.
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Guardians' president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said, 'We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago but obviously it's a decision we made. We've got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last 4 years and are excited about the future.'
The Commanders did not immediately issue a statement, but earlier this year, controlling owner Josh Harris said his team had no plans to change its name again. 'In this building, the name Commanders means something,' Harris said during a February press conference. 'It's about players who love football, are great at football, hit hard, mentally tough, great teammates.'
It's unclear whether Trump has the authority to upend a deal that the Commanders and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced in April to return the team in 2030 to its former home at the capital's Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium after having moved to Landover, Md., in 1997.
Amid years of discussions about redeveloping the storied-but-defunct sports and events campus, Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, signed into law in January a bill that transferred the land of the RFK Stadium from federal to local control for the next 99 years.
Still, earlier this month, as some members of the D.C. Council expressed skepticism about the timeline and financing of the mayor's deal with the Commanders, Trump suggested he could intervene if the council doesn't approve it. 'It's a very important piece of property. It's a great piece of property,' Trump said, referring to the RFK Stadium site, 'You know, ultimately we control that. The federal government ultimately controls it, so we'll see what happens.'
Contact us at letters@time.com.
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