Trump urges NFL's Commanders, MLB's Guardians to revert to original names
WASHINGTON: The NFL's Washington Commanders and MLB's Cleveland Guardians are just a few years into their respective team rebrandings, but President Donald Trump is ready for the two franchises to return to their original names.
In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said that 'a big clamoring' exists for the 'Washington 'Whatever's'' to change back to the Redskins. Similarly, he added, Cleveland should bring back the Indians moniker, claiming it's something that '(o)ur great Indian people, in massive numbers,' want to happen. 'Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them,' Trump wrote. He added: 'GET IT DONE!!!'
The president then threatened to block the Commanders' deal for a new stadium if the team did not revert to its old name. 'I won't make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington,' Trump wrote. 'The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be exciting for everyone.'
2030 return
The team moved from Washington to suburban Landover, Maryland, in 1997, but earlier this year reached an agreement with the local District of Columbia government to return to the city with a new stadium expected to open in 2030.
Trump also suggested that Matt Dolan, brother of Guardians primary owner Paul Dolan, lost in the last two Senate Republican primary elections in Ohio - including in 2022, won by Trump's vice president, JD Vance - because the team changed its name.
The Commanders became the Washington Football Team in July 2020 before adopting the team's current nickname two years later. Cleveland rebranded as the Guardians in July 2021. Both moves were made in the wake of widespread protests over racial injustice following the death of George Floyd. In February, new Commanders owner Josh Harris said that the new name was 'being embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff. So, we're going with that.'
Cleveland, a charter member of the American League in 1901, ditched the Chief Wahoo logo in 2019 - 104 years after the team first became the Indians. The Athletic reported that Guardians team president Chris Antonetti is not focused on the team going back to its previous name.
'Not something I'm tracking or paying a lot of attention to,' Antonetti said Sunday, 'but I would say generally, I understand there are very different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago ... But it's a decision we made and we've gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and we're excited about the future that's in front of us.'
Indigenous population's genocide
The Commanders reportedly did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some fans have advocated readopting the name Redskins out of tradition, but leading Indigenous rights organizations have opposed the name, including the National Congress of American Indians, the Association on American Indian Affairs, and Cultural Survival.
At least one group, the Native American Guardians Association, has supported the name Redskins and the 'respectful use of Native American names and imagery in sports, education and public life.'
The treatment of the Indigenous population after the arrival of European settlers to the US remains a matter of fierce debate. Some historians describe it as genocide, while others prefer the term ethnic cleansing. — Reuters
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