Trump threatens Washington stadium deal

21/7/2025 6:07

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to

interfere with a deal to build a new football stadium in

Washington, D.C., unless the local NFL team, now known as the

Commanders, changes its name back to Redskins.



The American football team dropped the name Redskins in 2020

after decades of criticism that it was a racial slur with links

to the U.S. genocide of the Indigenous population.



Trump had called for a return to the name Redskins - and for

the Cleveland Guardians baseball team to once again adopt the

name Indians - on other occasions, but on Sunday he added that

he may take official action.



"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 said in

a post on his Truth Social platform.



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 has limited authority to intervene under the current

home-rule law governing federal oversight of the District of

Columbia, but he has raised the prospect of taking more control,

telling reporters in February, "I think we should take over

Washington, D.C."



Representatives of the Commanders 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 Guardian's

Association, has supported the name Redskins and the "respectful

use of Native American names and imagery in sports, education

and public life."