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Politics|Trump Urges Washington and Cleveland Sports Teams to Revert to Native American Names
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/20/us/politics/trump-urges-washington-and-cleveland-sports-teams-to-revert-to-native-american-names.html
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The president threatened to block a deal for the Washington Commanders’ new stadium if the team did not bow to his demand.
July 20, 2025, 9:01 p.m. ET
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.
