D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said her position to bring the Washington Commanders back to the nation’s capital would not change despite President Donald Trump saying he may get in the way of the deal if the team does not revert to its former name.
“I think the thing that we should focus on in D.C. is doing our part, and I have worked for the better part of 10 years to get our part completed, including getting control of the land, coming to an agreement with the team in advancing a fantastic agreement to the council. So, we need to do our part. Let’s focus on doing our part,” Bowser said.
Over the weekend, Trump reignited the debate over the team’s name, which was changed three years ago after mounting public outcry and pressure from sponsors and critics. Washington Football Team was used for two seasons before Commanders was unveiled as the permanent name in early 2022. Josh Harris, whose group bought the team from Dan Snyder in 2023, said earlier this year the Commanders name was here to stay.
“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 Sunday.
On Monday morning, Bowser said her focus was on winning council approval for the $3.7 billion plan to bring the Commanders back to the nation’s capital.
In a statement to WTOP, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson also responded to Trump’s comments by saying his focus is on getting the “best deal for taxpayers,” and getting that deal “across the finish line.”
“I have heard from no — zero — District residents, complaining about the name change or saying this is an issue in connection with the stadium,” Mendelson said.
While funding for the project has been included in the D.C. budget, which will be voted on next week, the council has yet to approve the terms of the deal. Hearings on the stadium deal are expected to begin July 29.
Not a joke
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the president’s comments were not a joke.
“The president was serious,” Leavitt told reporters Monday while answering questions on the White House driveway. “Sports is one of the many passions of this president and he wants to see the name of that team changed.”
Despite the threat of getting in the middle of the project, the White House has not made any moves to officially intervene, Bowser said.
Savannah Romero, co-founder and deputy director of the Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty Collective, said in a statement Monday responding to Trump that “Native Americans are not mascots.”
“To equate Native people with cartoonish mascots alongside animals is a gross and ongoing tactic of dehumanization,” said Romero, who is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Nation.
Bowser was also asked whether a return to the previous name would change her position on bringing the team back to the nation’s capital. “No, it wouldn’t. It would not change,” she said.
WTOP has reached out to the Washington Commanders for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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