When President Trump gets involved in a sports issue, it’s rarely ever to uplift the sport. He was one of the main protagonists during a sensitive time in the league when Colin Kaepernick inspired athletes of all races across sports to take a knee for social injustice and police brutality. He’s gone head up with athletes, including LeBron James back in the “shut up and dribble” days.
As if he doesn’t have enough to worry about with the nation’s economy looking shakier than a five-hundred-pound giraffe on stilts, Trump has devoted his time to threatening the NFL’s Washington Commanders and Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians into changing their franchise’s names back to old names, deemed offensive to the Native American community.
President Trump Demands Washington Commanders & Cleveland Guardians Change Names Back To Redskins and Indians
Via a post on Trump’s Truth Social on July 20th, the president claimed that the Native American people want the names reverted back. Trump expressed his own desire to see the names changed back, demanding each team’s owners to “GET IT DONE!!!”
“The Washington “Whatever’s” should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!” − Donald Trump via Truth Social
Trump Threatens To Squash Washington’s New Stadium Project If Franchise Doesn’t Return To Redskins Name
Trump went as far as to threaten to restrict the team from building on the old RFK Stadium site if it doesn’t change its name.
“I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington (name),’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington,” Trump posted.
He continued to argue the merits of going back to the old name: “The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone.”
After much public backlash and a stubborn stance by former Washington owner Dan Snyder, who sold the team under an upheaval of accusations, scandals and refusals to budge on changing the Redskins name, in July 2020, as Synder began to lose his grip on the franchise, Washington dropped the name and logo.
REDSKINS: Dan Synder Channels Ricky Bobby In Redskins Name-Change Debate
“We are announcing we will be retiring the (former) name and logo upon completion of this review,” the team said in a statement at the time and that team officials were “working closely to develop a new name and design approach that will enhance the standing of our proud, tradition rich franchise and inspire our sponsors, fans and community for the next 100 years.”
Trump has been very vocal about his opinion of the name changes, and when asked about the stadium plans earlier this month, Trump said he wouldn’t have changed the name in the first place. During his election campaign in 2024, Trump continued to shun the name change. While speaking at a rally in Ohio, Trump compared the name ‘Cleveland Guardians’ to a group of people “in charge of a trust fund.”
The Cleveland Guardians have been the Guardians for four seasons now. The Washington Commanders have been the Commanders for three seasons. Both teams seemed to have been evolving and creating new identities, leaving their past monikers behind and most people agreed that the cultural appropriation and insensitive team names were a thing of the past.
Stephen A Smith Says Trump Is Pandering To His Political Base
According to ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, Trump is just appealing to his base and using this issue to garner support.
“I think that the president’s being petty. I think it’s him being evasive… it’s just him catering to his base to make sure that he serves to appease them in some way, to distract them from other issues, including the Epstein files, by the way.”
However, despite the president’s pleas, the Guardians weren’t trying to hear that nonsense either. In a meeting with reporters Sunday, Guardians’ president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said that he was unaware of Trump’s statements and changing the name back to the ‘Indians’ was “not something [he has been] tracking or [has] been paying a lot of attention to.”
Cleveland Guardians Rebuke Trump Demand To Change Name Back To Indians
Forward march.
“We’ve gotten the opportunity to build the brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future,” said Antonetti.
Since new Commanders owner Josh Harris took control of the team in 2023, he’s maintained that he won’t be changing the team’s name back, previously stating that the name has been “embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff,” expressing a strong connection with the brand.
There’s always some get back involved in Trump’s moves, He might just be wanting to stir up trouble for a franchise who he unsuccessfully tried to purchase in 1983 but was rejected by the owners.
