President Donald Trump on Sunday intensified his push for the Washington Commanders to revert to their former name—the “Redskins”—by threatening to withhold support for the NFL team’s new stadium deal in Washington, D.C.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote:
“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 added that a name change would increase the team’s value and generate more excitement around the proposed stadium project.
The Commanders, who left the District for Landover, Maryland, in 1997, announced a plan in April to return to Washington, D.C., with a new stadium on the site of the old Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. While the proposal has backing from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, it remains stalled in the D.C. Council, which is set to hold its first public hearing on the redevelopment plan on July 29.
Bowser recently urged council members to move forward, stating, “The Commanders are anxious” about the deal. Trump, meanwhile, previously expressed willingness to intervene if the Council fails to approve the plan, saying the federal government still has ultimate authority over the land.
“It’s a great piece of property,” Trump said. “If I can help them out, I would.”
In Sunday’s post, Trump referred to the team as the “Washington ‘Whatever’s’” and reiterated his demand for an immediate name change.
Trump’s remarks mark a sharp escalation from earlier this month, when he called the Commanders’ rebranding a “controversial” decision and said, “It doesn’t have the same ring to me.”
The Washington football team dropped the “Redskins” name in 2020 following decades of pressure from Native American advocates, who described it as a racial slur. The “Commanders” name was adopted in 2022 as part of a broader effort to modernize the franchise’s identity.
Trump also took aim at the Cleveland Guardians, formerly the Indians, calling on them to restore their original name.
“Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen,” he wrote. “Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now… OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”
In a later post, Trump blamed Matt Dolan—an Ohio politician whose family owns the Guardians—for losing multiple elections, claiming he could win if the team brought back the “Indians” name. (Matt’s brother Paul Dolan is the team’s principal owner.)
“Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!” Trump added, riffing on his MAGA slogan.
Both the Commanders and the Guardians declined to comment further on Trump’s remarks.
The original team name changes came in response to years of criticism and cultural reckoning around the use of Native American imagery in sports. Native leaders said the names perpetuated stereotypes and harmed Indigenous communities. Trump, however, argued that “times are different now,” and suggested a return to old names would reflect “passion and common sense.”
