Trump Administration Live Updates: Republicans and Democrats Call For Release of More Epstein Files
President Trump urged the Washington Commanders on Sunday to revert to their former name and threatened to derail a deal for the N.F.L. team to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C., if it didn't submit to his demand.
The Commanders dropped their 'Redskins' name in 2020 amid pressure from corporate sponsors and after lobbying by Native American groups, who argued that the team's name and logo amplified racist stereotypes.
On Sunday morning, as he played golf at his club in Washington, Mr. Trump posted a message on Truth Social pushing the team to reverse course.
'The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team,' Mr. Trump wrote. In his posts, Mr. Trump also urged the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, which changed its name from the Cleveland Indians in 2021, to follow suit.
In one post, Mr. Trump claimed, without evidence, that there was 'a big clamoring for this' and that 'our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen.'
Hours later, in another post, Mr. Trumpthreatened to impose 'a restriction' on the Commanders by thwarting the deal announced in April for the team to build a new stadium in Washington.
'I won't make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be exciting for everyone.' It is unclear if the president has the authority to block the deal.
The posts came as Mr. Trump attempted to move on from the backlash over his administration's backpedaling on its promise to release the government's files on the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Mr. Trump socialized for nearly 15 years.
In a post about the Cleveland Guardians, Mr. Trump attacked Matt Dolan, a former state legislator who has a partial stake in the team, writing that he had lost elections 'because of that ridiculous name change.'
Mr. Dolan, a Republican, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2022 and 2024.
Chris Antonetti, the Cleveland Guardians' president, told The Athletic that the club was focused on its future.
'Not something I'm tracking or paying a lot of attention to, but I would say generally, I understand there are very different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago,' Mr. Antonetti said in response to the president's post, according to The Athletic. 'But it's a decision we made and we've gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and we're excited about the future that's in front of us.'
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The Cleveland baseball team also changed their name, in 2021, to the Guardians, drawing protests like the one from this fan at a game last year.
Credit...
David Richard/Imagn Images
The post also came as Mr. Trump marked his six-month anniversary in office and sought to draw attention to his accomplishments.
Mr. Trump's efforts also mirrored his push to restore statues and other memorials glorifying Confederates who fought to preserve slavery — which were removed amid a so-called 'racial reckoning' after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 — arguing that their removal over the past several years had erased parts of the nation's history.
The Commanders and the Guardians also changed their names amid the heightened sensitivity to the country's history of racism.
'Times are different now than they were three or four years ago,' Mr. Trump wrote on Sunday. 'We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!'
In one of his posts on Sunday, Mr. Trump reiterated an earlier claim that the name changes had been rebuked by Native American groups. In his initial post, he said that Native Americans believed that 'their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them.'
'Indians are being treated very unfairly,' Mr. Trump wrote later. 'MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!
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