Trump threatens to hold up stadium deal if Washington Commanders don't switch back to Redskins

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 6:21 PM EDT, July 20, 2025


CLEVELAND (AP) — President Donald Trump is threatening to hold up a new stadium deal for Washington’s NFL team if it does not restore its old name of the Redskins, which was considered offensive to Native Americans. Trump also said Sunday that he wants Cleveland’s baseball team to revert to its former name, the Indians, saying there was a “big clamoring for this” as well.

The Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians have had their current names since the 2022 seasons and both have said they have no plans to change them back. Trump said the Washington football team would be “much more valuable” if it restored its old name.

“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 on his social media site.

His latest interest in changing the name reflects his broader effort to roll back changes that followed a national debate on cultural sensitivity and racial justice. The team announced it would drop the Redskins name and the Indian head logo in 2020 during a broader reckoning with systemic racism and police brutality.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-indians-redskins-guardians-commanders-8863d8d95f56414f0f74cab0e897a93f

[johnnyfins]

1. Let him have this fake fight. EPSTEIN!!!!

[Buddyzbuddy]

2. Are you implying the Felon doesn't want to talk about

EPSTEIN, his best friend,EPSTEIN?

[70sEraVet]

11. Perhaps they should threaten to rename the team the Washington Epsteins?

Or the Cleveland Epstein-Islanders?

[PatSeg]

33. "Epstein" should be the answer to everything

Trump does or says.

"What the Epstein is he thinking? Has he lost his Epstein mind?"

[C_U_L8R]

3. He gave away his game there.

The teams now have plenty of ammo to sue him if he starts any shit.
Sit down and shut up, Donald.

[twodogsbarking]

4. Hey dimwit. Your job isn't to fuck up everything but you do.

[Captain Zero]

5. Revenge for NFL not giving him a franchise?

Back in the 1980s. Seems petty but he has found a way to get back at the NFL.

I don't doubt for a minute this is what this is about.

No team for me. No stadium for you.

They should rename the team the Orange Bloated Assholes and play in the current stadium.

[twodogsbarking]

6. They never let him play football on the playground. They called him names.

The Commanders better be careful or he will bankrupt their team.

[Rebl2]

42. Team should

plan to move to a different area of the country. Get away from dc.

[PatSeg]

34. Such an overachiever

He truly goes above and beyond to reach his goal to "fuck up everything".

[Paladin]

7. Just another trump extortion scheme, pure and simple.

Those sports teams can make trump back off---provided they fork over enough cash. I hope to hell they don't cave in---the lessons of the chickenshit big law firms and fancy colleges ought to be instructive. And oh, yeah: we need to be out in the streets, coast-to-coast, raising hell about this. This filthy administration makes Al Capone's gang look like a bunch of legit businessmen, by comparison.

[MadameButterfly]

20. And 60 Minutes CBS Paramount deal

Unless the courts put an end to the extortion he will do it to anyone for any reason he pleases
SCOTUS, do you have any conscience left?

[liberalgunwilltravel]

8. Shut the fuck up

Clown. These are private business decisions. Go pound sand with your tiny little hands.

[Botany]

9. Yes, Donny bring back the racist names. That is good use of a President's time.

Redskin comes from the English paying bounties on Native Americans to other tribes.
“Bring me back the skin (scalp) of a red man.”

The name Indians comes from Columbus who when he sailed west and thought he would
reach India and so when he ran into the Bahamas he called the people who came out to
meet him Indians and the story goes some of the men on his ships who had seen real Indians
from India and told him so got hung and after that his men were like, “you are right boss they
are Indians.”

Good God in butter is Trump a total turd.

[calimary]

10. SOOOOOOOOOOO sick and tired of his fucking threats!

Here, donald. This one’s from me:

[Ray Bruns]

12. Just another one of Stinky's diversions from the Epstein fiasco.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. There is nothing that he doesn't demand to be his way.

His nose has to be in every aspect of our lives.

[everyonematters]

14. He is trying anything and everything to reenergize his base.

[LS0999]

54. I've been trying very hard to not dehumanize his "base"

It is becoming more difficult by the day.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

15. They should ignore him. No press scrums, no statements. If he sends a letter, send a polite letter back "No thanks". .nt

[Chasstev365]

16. Simple: The owners should move the team

Chicago (the city would support a 2nd team)
Orlando
Memphis
San Antonio
San Diego
Oakland
Portland

[Paladin]

21. I'd love to see it happen.

We're in serious need of some huge anti-trump demonstrations in the streets, right now---nothing would be a better guarantee of that than a team move. Hell, just an announcement by the owners that they were considering a move---as opposed to cratering to trump---would set things off. Fingers crossed!

[Historic NY]

23. They could more to NJ the home of two NY footballs teams.

[Wiz Imp]

17. Trump has no authority to stop the stadium deal.

The property belongs to the city, not the Federal Government.

https://wamu.org/story/25/07/21/trump-threatens-to-derail-washington-commanders-new-stadium-deal-over-team-name/

In a later post, Trump threatened to scuttle the Commanders’ plans for a new stadium, which would move the team from its current location in Maryland back to the nation’s capital after renovating an antiquated stadium on federal property.

“I may put a restriction on them 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.

Congress gave the city control over the site of the proposed new stadium last December, which former President Joe Biden signed into law in January. The D.C. Council is now considering a multibillion-dollar plan to redevelop the property for the team. It’s unclear how Trump could intervene with the project.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office said in an email that the mayor had no comment. The Commanders did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment. The Cleveland Guardians declined comment.

[Chasstev365]

25. In normal times, you are correct

However, since November of 2016 have been stuck in this never ending Twilight Zone episode where anything King Donald demands, ever one caves.

[LudwigPastorius]

50. I think Congress still retains the right to veto any decisions by the D.C. Council.

At the least, Trump and his Congressional henchmen could tie up any deal in the court system for years.

[Wiz Imp]

55. Nope. Congress has no say at this point as far as I can find.

From Google's AI (As far as I can tell, this is all accurate. I'm posting this because it's a lot more succinct than posting a half dozen different articles.)

No, Congress does not need to approve a stadium deal in Washington, D.C. The District of Columbia has the authority to approve or reject a stadium deal for the Washington Commanders. While Congress initially granted D.C. control over the RFK Stadium site, it is now up to the D.C. Council to approve any specific redevelopment plan, including a new stadium.
Here's a breakdown:
Congress's Role:
Congress previously passed legislation giving D.C. control over the RFK Stadium site. This legislation, signed into law by President Biden in January, allowed the city to develop the site, including for a potential new stadium.
D.C. Council's Role:
The D.C. Council is the local legislative body responsible for making decisions about the city's land use and development. They are now considering the Commanders' proposal for a new stadium and related development.
No Congressional Approval Needed:
While Congress initially granted D.C. control, it does not need to approve any specific stadium plan. The D.C. Council has the final say on whether to move forward with the project, according to NPR.
Possible Congressional Influence:
Although not required, Congress could potentially exert some influence over the project through oversight or by attaching riders to future legislation. However, the primary decision-making power rests with the D.C. Council.
Recent Developments:
Recent news reports indicate that a Republican Congressman, James Comer, is urging the D.C. Council to approve the deal before their August recess. This shows a level of Congressional interest, but it does not mean they have the power to force approval.

The one thing Trump could do to scuttle a deal is to try to get DC Council to disapprove it. But you can see from above that Republican James Comer actually wants DC council to APPROVE the deal before August recess.

As for Trump tying things up in court for years, I doubt that. I would think any lawsuit brought by Trump would be dismissed relatively quickly. Trump has already admitted he would try to block a stadium deal solely because of his own frivolous and ridiculous personal wishes. He has no legal or other basis to block a deal.

[lark]

18. Snyder should build in a nearby city instead and give krasnov the middle finger.

Or is he just another rich coward who caves when krasnov shakes his fat little orange dyed fist at him?

[Henry203]

28. Snyder sold the team

[lark]

29. Oops!

Shows how much I know about the Washington team. My bad, sorry~

[DinahMoeHum]

30. Snyder is no longer the owner. . .

. . .and hasn't been since July 2023.

The team is under new ownership/management by Josh Harris, who also owns the Phildelphia 76ers (NBA) and the Philadelphia Flyers (NHL). One of his limited partnets is NBA Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson.

Furthermore, they are planning a new stadium on the site where the old RFK Stadium was.

[Wiz Imp]

39. Slight correction

Josh Harris who is the principal owner of the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia 76ers also owns the New Jersey Devils hockey team, not the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are owned by Comcast Spectacor.

[DinahMoeHum]

45. Thanks.

n/t

[Martin Eden]

19. I had to check if this was The Onion

Not much space between reality and satire these days.

[tblue37]

52. Poe's Law.

[Blue Full Moon]

22. This and demanding money isn't this extortion

[underpants]

26. Hey Mr. Business Man it's a trademark issue. You can't trademark a derogatory word

It’s a trademark issue. The team and the league would lose money on anything with its new old name or logo on it. Anyone could produce and sell merchandise.

[doc03]

27. I guess he will also hold the proposed new Browns stadium hostage to force Cleveland to

change the Guardians back to the Indians?

[Wiz Imp]

37. How would he have any authority over a stadium in Cleveland?

Answer: He doesn't.

A year ago he would have had some authority over the stadium in DC as the proposed site was controlled by the Federal Government. But Congress passed legislation in December which President Biden signed turning the land over to city control. Trump can threaten and bluster all he wants, but he has no authority to block anything.

[doc03]

41. Why would that stop him?

[Wiz Imp]

44. Huh? How's he going to stop anything? He can't. He can threaten all he likes. Threats can be ignored.

The Governor of Ohio has already signed the state budget that allocated over $600 million for the Browns stadium. Trump has zero ability to stop that. And no, No court would ever rule in his favor.

[Ocelot II]

31. What do today's GOPers think of a president who tries to force private businesses

to change their names, change the recipes for their products, change their internal personnel processes? What ever happened to free enterprise and the sacred marketplace? They love deregulation except when their president doesn't like the way a particular company conducts its business.

[BumRushDaShow]

32. In other words

"government overreach".

They always project this on others as a "bad thing", while it is something that they have done and plan to continue to do.

[mac56]

35. Washington Epsteins

[Miguelito Loveless]

38. They could change their name specifically to honor Trump

"The Washington Rapists"

[4th]

40. I believe in separation of sports and state.

Never mind Trump being a jackass.

No public funding for sports stadiums EVER.
That is a form of public corruption and welfare for the rich.

[generalbetrayus]

43. It strikes me odd that a narcissist like Orange Julius Caesar, as Commander-in-Chief, would object

to the name Commanders. Someone needs to tell him that the name was changed to honor him.

Also, to honor him, they could rename the team the Washington Orangeskins.

[Sogo]

46. The Washington Pedos

A name especially in honor of the President and his BFF.

[azureblue]

47. Old man yells at clouds

Desperate Don has lost his mind...

[KG]

48. remember 6 mos ago when repubs hated 'govt overreach'

[LudwigPastorius]

49. Screw 'em.

The team should just build at the Northwest Stadium site and change their name to the Maryland Commanders.

[kskiska]

51. None of his business.

[twodogsbarking]

53. The Wahington Swollenshins.

[keroro gunsou]

56. Umm...

just how old is this guy anyway?

[Attilatheblond]

57. He must have nearly every WH staffer combing thru everything to find things he can use to make demands

It's not governance, it's busy work for insecure, ignorant, mentally ill despot. Stuff that actually matters, that SHOULD be addressed, is being ignored.

[OldBaldy1701E]

58. "I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original 'Washington Redskins,'"

Oh, you want the original name?

The team was known as the 'Boston Braves'.

I mean, since you are demanding that we go back to the 'original' name.

I suppose you want them returned to Boston as well?

I prefer that the team answer in the same way that the Spartans answered Phillip II of Macedon. He sent a message to Sparta asking that, after he has conquered the other states, if he should arrive as a friend or a foe. The Spartans answered, "Neither." Phillip got so mad that he sent the following statement, "If I invade Laconia, I shall turn you out." Sparta's reply?

"If."

Challenge that orange gibbon at every turn, folks. That is how we return the US to some semblance of sanity. (Which is assuming a lot, I know...)