Trump delivers shock verdict on Washington Commanders name change after NFL team dropped controversial Redskins
President Donald Trump wouldn't quite endorse the Washington Commanders changing the NFL team's name back to the 'Redskins' - which was considered a slur by a number of Native American groups.
He did voice support for the Kansas City Chiefs - and mocked Cleveland for changing the name of its MLB franchise from Indians to Guardians.
Trump was asked if he'd tie the Commanders' football stadium deal in Washington, D.C. to reverting the name back to the original.
'Now Washington, the Redskins, perhaps that's a little different, a little different,' he said. 'I think it's a superior name to what they have right now,' he also volunteered.
He added that, 'we're about bringing common sense back to this country.'
The 'Redskins' name had been at the center of controversy for decades since a movement to begin phasing out the use of Native Americans as mascots began in the 1960s.
For years, the National Congress of American Indians - a non-profit organization that represents indigenous tribes in the nation's capital - viewed the nickname as a racial slur.
The NCAI and a number of individual tribes and indigenous people protested the name and lobbied former team owner Dan Snyder to change the name.
Attitudes on the nickname changed over time and by the mid-2010s, studies had shown a growing animosity among American Indians toward the name. Additionally, the sight of fans of different races donning Native headdresses and 'war paint' had become far too common.
In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests for racial equality in 2020 as well as pressure from the league and its sponsors, the team abandoned the 'Redskins' moniker and played as the Washington Football Team for two seasons. In 2022, it was announced that the team would be re-branded as the Commanders.
Following Snyder's sale of the franchise to Josh Harris, fans have lobbied the new owner to revert to the old name.
Additionally, the Native American Guardians Association - an organization which vocally opposes the removal of Native American mascots - launched a petition to bring the name back.
After Trump was re-elected, many fans hoped that he could somehow force the team or the NFL to bring the 'Redskins' name back.
However, as both the NFL and the Commanders are private businesses, Trump has no authority to force a name change.
A fan of the Redskins in 2019, wearing a native headdress and 'war paint' in Miami
Additionally, the team's attempts to move from its current home in Landover, Maryland and back into the DC city limits at a new venue on the site of the old RFK Stadium could be a roadblock to bringing back the old identity.
The Commanders were founded in Boston in 1932. The city was awarded a franchise by the NFL under the ownership of George Preston Marshall.
Initially, the team was known as the Boston Braves and shared the name with a National League baseball team (which eventually moved to Milwaukee, then to their current home of Atlanta) and shared the same stadium, Braves Field.
After just one season under the Braves moniker and at Braves Field, Marshall changed the name to Redskins and moved the team to Fenway Park. Eventually, they moved to Washington in 1937.
Marshall had been accused of racism throughout his career in football as he promoted a 'gentleman's agreement' in the league to not sign any black players. That 'agreement' held up until 1946.
It wasn't until 1962 that the Redskins finally integrated (the last team in the NFL to do so) after Marshall was threatened by then-Attorney general Robert Kennedy and Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.
The two cabinet members said that if the team didn't sign a black player, the government would revoke the franchise's lease on DC Stadium (now RFK Stadium).
In that year's NFL Draft, Marshall selected Syracuse running back Ernie Davis, the first black player to ever win the Heisman Trophy. When Davis refused to play for the team, he was traded to the Cleveland Browns for running back Bobby Mitchell and he became the team's first black player.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump warns China ‘not easy' as trade talks enter second day
7:34AM Good morning Thanks for joining me. Donald Trump said it was 'not easy' dealing with China but insisted he had received 'good reports' about trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing officials in London. Here is what you need to know as talks enter a second day. 5 things to start your day Apple's AI event falls flat as iPhone maker struggles | Investors sent shares downwards as Apple unveiled minor upgrades Thames Water lenders demand reprieve on fines in £17bn rescue deal | Ofwat urged to consider 'regulatory reset' after struggling utility giant hit with record penalty Nervous families freeze spending in blow to growth hopes | Fresh pressure on Rachel Reeves as retail sales rise just 1pc Miliband warned carbon capture project faces collapse without £4bn injection | Fledgling green tech has already received almost £22bn in public subsidies SNP ferry scheme suffers fresh blow after rain causes ship to flood | Glen Rosa is already behind schedule and £100m over budget What happened overnight Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday as investors kept an eye on the China-US trade talks that might help stave off a recession. A second day of talks was planned after US and Chinese officials met in London for negotiations over various issues. The hope is that they can eventually reach a deal to reduce painfully high tariffs against each other. Most of the tariff hikes imposed since Donald Trump escalated his trade war are paused to allow trade in everything from tiny tech gadgets to enormous machinery to continue. In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.2pc to 38,177.71, while the Kospi in South Korea jumped 0.3pc to 2,865.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.2pc to 24,127.30 and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5pc to 3,384.47. In Taiwan, the Taiex surged 2.1pc to 22,242.14. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.8pc to 8,587.20. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, at 42,761.76, the S&P 500 rose 0.1pc, to 6,005.88. and the Nasdaq rose 0.3pc, to 19,591.24. In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.478pc from 4.494pc late on Sunday.
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
California is losing the court of public opinion
In the on-going Battle of Los Angeles, California governor Gavin Newsom may have the law on his side – but his adversary president Donald Trump has the most powerful imagery. The conflict began in Los Angeles on Friday, when mobs of protestors attacked agents of the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who were trying to serve warrants on specific illegal immigrants at a Home Depot and also at a clothing store. On Saturday, during a protest in front of a nearby Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office, members of the crowd lit fires and threw rocks at federal officers, who defended themselves with tear gas and non-lethal ammunition. Later that day, president Trump authorised the deployment of 2000 members of the National Guard to protect the federal ICE agents; since then 700 American Marines have been added to the federal force. Governor Newsom and other leaders of the Democratic-dominated California have claimed that Trump's actions were not needed because local and state authorities had the situation under control. And yet on Sunday, following three days of violence and arrests, the Los Angeles Police Department declared downtown Los Angeles an 'unlawful assembly' area. And on Monday the state of California sued the Trump administration, claiming that Trump 'illegally acted to federalise the National Guard,' in the words of Newsom. Typically a governor requests a president to federalise and mobilise the National Guard to deal with riots or natural disasters. For example, consider the Los Angeles riots of 1992. It was sparked by the acquittal of four white police officers who beat a black motorist named Rodney King and it led to more than fifty deaths and a billion dollars of damage; in response a Republican California governor Pete Wilson asked a Republican president George HW Bush to federalise the National Guard. Not since 1965, when president Lyndon B. Johnson sent the National Guard to Alabama to protect civil rights demonstrators, has a president sent troops without a governor's request. While California officials might be able to make a legal case against the Trump administration, the state and the Democratic party risk losing in the court of public opinion. Viral photographs show masked rioters waving Mexican flags in front of burning cars and debris, supporting the Trump White House's inflammatory claims about an immigrant invasion. In a shrewd public relations move, the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released mug shots under the heading: 'ICE Captures Worst of the Worst Illegal Alien Criminals in Los Angeles Including Murderers, Sex Offenders, and Other Violent Criminals.' The rogues' gallery contains illegal immigrants from a number of countries including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Mexico, charged with offenses including attempted rape, assault with a deadly weapon, grand theft larceny, distribution of heroin and cocaine, wilful cruelty to a child and other serious crimes. Democrats recently succeeded in reversing the allegedly unlawful deportation to El Salvador of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was granted the right to remain in the US by a federal immigration judge. But on his return he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of being an MS-13 gang member who has smuggled thousands of illegal immigrants, drugs, and firearms in the US. Democratic strategists might ask whether someone like Abrego Garcia should be the face of the Democratic party. At least, unlike some of the rioters cavorting in front of burning wreckage in LA, he does not wear a mask.
ITV News
16 minutes ago
- ITV News
Trump sends thousands more troops to LA as unrest continues into fourth day
US President Donald Trump has deployed a further 2,000 National Guard troops as well as 700 US Marines to LA, escalating a military presence local officials describe as unhelpful and "sowing terror." An initial 2,000 troops began arriving on Sunday, which saw the most violence out of three days, with Governor Gavin Newsom claiming only 300 troops were actually used. "The first 2,000? Given no food or water. Only approx. 300 are deployed - the rest are sitting, unused, in federal buildings without orders," Newsom posted on X. Despite Monday's protests being less violent, Trump has continued to describe Los Angeles in dire terms that Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom say are nowhere close to the truth. They say he is putting public safety at risk by adding military personnel, even though police say they don't need the help. Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said in a statement he was confident in the police department's ability to handle large-scale demonstrations and that the Marines' arrival without coordinating with the police department presented a 'significant logistical and operational challenge' for them. Newsom called the deployments reckless and 'disrespectful to our troops' in a post on X. The protests began Friday in downtown Los Angeles after federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people across the city. The smell of smoke hung in the air downtown Monday, one day after crowds blocked a major road and set self-driving cars on fire as police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Additional protests against immigration raids continued into the evening on Monday in several other cities, including San Francisco and Santa Ana in California and Dallas and Austin in Texas. Local officials have pushed back against the president's orders, with California Attorney General Rob Bonta filing a lawsuit over the use of National Guard troops. He told reporters in his announcement Monday that Trump had 'trampled' the state's sovereignty. 'We don't take lightly to the president abusing his authority and unlawfully mobilising California National Guard troops,' Bonta said. He sought a court order declaring Trump's use of the Guard unlawful and asking for a restraining order to halt the deployment. Trump said Monday that the city would have been 'completely obliterated' if he had not deployed the Guard. Despite their presence, there has been limited engagement so far between the Guard and protesters while local law enforcement implements crowd control. The deployment appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's National Guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the administration's mass deportation efforts. The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice. In a directive Saturday, Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.'
