Trump wants his name on the Washington Commanders’ stadium, and he has ‘plenty of cards to play’

A senior White House source told ESPN that there were back-channel communications between management and a member of team ownership regarding his desire.

The source added: “This is what the president wants, and it is likely to happen.”

The new $3.7 billion stadium, which was approved in September and is expected to open by 2030, will be built on the site of the old RFK Stadium on the Anacostia River, which served as the team’s home stadium from 1961 to 1996.

“That would be a nice name, because it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt told ESPN via email on Friday evening.

The White House and a spokesman for the leaders did not immediately respond luckRequest for comment.

A source on the undrafted team told ESPN that there have been no formal talks yet with Trump about his request, though they could come soon, as the president plans to attend the Leaders’ home game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Billionaire Josh Harris leads the Commanders ownership group, and Trump is expected to host the game as his guest, according to ESPN. Trump is also expected to participate in halftime activities honoring military veterans.

But the decision to put Trump’s name on the new stadium may not be up to the team alone, a source familiar with the process told ESPN.

The Leaders own the naming rights to the new stadium, which will presumably be sold to a corporate sponsor. But the District of Columbia Council, which approved the project, will likely decide whether to memorialize an individual in the stadium’s name.

The D.C. Council will lease the stadium to Commanders and the National Park Service, which manages the 180-acre federal government land on which the 65,000-seat stadium will be built.

“The team doesn’t have the authority. They can’t name the stadium… on their own,” the unnamed source told ESPN. “The city will be involved in that decision, and the Park Service will be involved.”

Most NFL teams have sold their naming rights to corporate sponsors for hundreds of millions of dollars, but the unnamed source familiar with Trump’s desires told ESPN that Trump does not want to buy the name or have a corporate sponsor buy it for him.

“He has cards to play. He can make it very difficult, through state environmental approvals and other things, to make sure that everyone who wants to build this stadium gets on board to put their name on it,” a source familiar with the stadium deal told ESPN. “Trump has a lot of cards to play to get his way.”

The D.C. Council and the National Park Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump has made demands on the team before. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Harris announced that the new Leaders Stadium in Washington will be built in April.

But in July, Trump threatened to block construction if Harris did not change the team’s name from Leaders to Redskins, which drew criticism from Native American groups for being offensive.

The Washington Football Team changed its logo and name in 2020, and was named the Washington Football Team for two years. The Leaders have had their current name since the 2022 season and have said they will keep it, despite Trump’s demands.