President Donald Trump has threatened the Washington Commanders football team, stating he will not facilitate a deal for the team’s new stadium to be built in Washington, D.C., if it does not revert to its former name.
“My statement on the Washington Reskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way. 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 wrote on his social media platform on Sunday.
Washington Commanders jerseys are displayed at an event to unveil the NFL football team’s new identity, Feb. 2, 2022, in Landover, Md.
Patrick Semansky/AP
In another post on Sunday, Trump called on the Commanders to “immediately” change their name.
“Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.
ABC News has reached out to the Commanders for comment on Trump’s demands.
Trump also said that the Cleveland Guardians baseball team should switch back to its old name, too, and called out Ohio Senate candidate Matt Dolan, who owns the team, claiming that he lost several elections because of the name change.
“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)!,” Trump wrote on Sunday.
The Cleveland Guardians’ president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, said in a statement on Sunday that there have not been any plans to change the team’s name, according to The Associated Press.
“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 four years and are excited about the future that’s in front of us,” Antonetti said.
The Guardians didn’t have any additional comment when asked by ABC News.
With the Commanders, Josh Harris, the managing partner for the team, said earlier this year that the team would not be changing its name, according to The Associated Press.
The Washington Commanders dropped its former name in July 2020 after years of complaints over its racist connotations toward Native Americans. The team adopted the generic “Washington Football Team” two weeks later, though it was only supposed to be in place for the 2020-21 season. Then in 2022, the team revealed it’s new name would be the Washington Commanders.
A 2020 study from the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley found that at least half of more than 1,000 Native Americans surveyed were offended by Commanders’ previous team name, according to UC Berkeley’s website.
The practice of using Native American mascots is controversial and many tribal leaders say it is dehumanizing and perpetuates stereotypes.
In 2024, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill with unanimous consent that would allow the federal government to lease more than 170 acres of land at the site where the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium is currently located, which would allow for the possibility of a new stadium to be built. The team currently plays at the Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.
The bill transfers the jurisdiction of the stadium site from the federal government to local D.C. authorities.
“We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C. the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK stadium site. This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans,” Harris said in a statement on Dec. 21, 2024.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
