Donald Trump had a controversial week after the Wall Street Journal published a story about a letter he had allegedly written to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The president denied the report and filed a lawsuit against the newspaper.
Trump created more controversy on Sunday, this time related to the Washington Commanders football team and their new stadium. The president, angered by the team changing its name from Redskins to the Commanders, said that if they didn’t change back, he wouldn’t make a deal for the team to build a new stadium in Washington, DC.
The Team Plans on Moving From Maryland to Washington, DC
The Washington football team played its games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium from 1961 through 1996. In 1997, the team moved to a stadium in Landover, Maryland, which is currently named Northwest Stadium.
The owners of the franchise plan on moving their team back to its hometown on the original site of RFK Stadium. In January, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill transferring the federal land on which RFK is located to the team. The team now hopes to renovate the site into a new stadium.
Trump Relayed His Message Via Truth Social
Trump made his proclamation via one of his favorite forms of communication, his Truth Social website. The President targeted both the Commanders and the Cleveland Guardians. The baseball franchise changed its name from the Indians to the Guardians in 2021.
According to Trump’s post, the teams would be much more valuable if they reverted to their old names which some people considered to be offensive. In a follow-up post to the original message, Trump then said that if Washington doesn’t change the name, he could look to scuttle their stadium deal.
The Name Was Changed By the Team in 2020
The franchise changed its name from Redskins to the Washington Football Team in 2020, before officially renaming the team the Commanders in 2022. The change was long in the making. There had been protests against the name, and many Native American tribes spoke out against it. Even President Barack Obama weighed in, saying in 2015 that names like this perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Then-owner Daniel Snyder, a controversial figure in the sport, dug in his heels and faced down criticism for years. The team finally made the choice to change in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd protests.
New Ownership Has Said That The Name is Here to Stay
Daniel Snyder had changed the team name but remained a toxic figure in the NFL. Other league owners effectively forced him out, leading him to sell the team to Josh Harris in 2023. Harris, who made his fortune in private equity, is also the managing partner of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.
Harris has regularly been asked if, as the team owner, he was looking to change the team name from Commanders and possibly back to Redskins. The new owner has vowed that he plans on moving forward with the Commanders’ name. He also said that the reasons for not going back to the old name are obvious.
The Team Has a Rich Tradition and Is on the Upswing
Based in Washington, DC, since 1937, the Washington football franchise is among the most storied in the sport, winning five conference championships and three Super Bowls (1982, 1987, 1991). Things were rough in the Snyder era, as the team had a record of 164-220-2 during his tenure.
Under Harris, though, the Commanders are on the rise. The team drafted LSU’s Jayden Daniels in the first round, who played like a superstar and earned NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, leading them to the NFC Championship gam. Washington’s arrow is pointing right up.
The President Says That Many Native Americans Want This Change to Happen
During the period when activists argued that the original name was insensitive, several Native American tribes released statements urging a change. This included the Cherokee and Comanche Nations of Oklahoma, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the Navajo Nation Council.
Despite this history, the president is claiming that this is what Native Americans want. He wrote in one post, “Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige are systematically being taken away from them.”
Critics Say Trump’s Statements Were an Attempt at Distraction
The president had maybe his worst week during his presidency, and he seems desperate to get people to talk about anything other than the Jeffrey Epstein files. His supporters were angered after his administration claimed there were no files.
Trump believes that most of his supporters would support a name change, while Democrats largely find the team name offensive. Critics say this was a piece of red meat for his base that would get them talking about something else.
The DC Council Plans on Moving Ahead
While Trump said that the land was on federal property, Congress has already approved a transfer of the land to the team. It is unclear if there is anything the president could do to stop the plans.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, DC, did not seem bothered by the comments from Trump. According to the Democrat, the project is at the one-yard line, and she doesn’t believe it would be effective to start the entire process over.
Conclusion
It is not yet known how far Donald Trump may take his grievances on this issue. While the franchise and city leaders do not think it is possible for him to make good on his threats, he has certainly pushed to do things in the past, hoping that the case will make it to the Supreme Court.
As of now, it looks like the president was just using this situation as a way to distract from some of his other issues. Issues like a name change are the kinds of things that help to bring his base together. As always with Trump, though, one should be prepared for the unexpected.