Trump says Commanders’ controversial former name was ‘superior’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump prefers the Washington Commanders’ controversial former name, he told reporters Tuesday evening.

Conservative Virginia radio host John Fredericks asked the president if a deal for a new Commanders stadium at the RFK Stadium site — on federal land that the government gave D.C. control of — is contingent upon restoring the team’s former name, which many consider racist. While Trump’s response didn’t pertain to the stadium deal, he did share his preference for the former team name.

“The Indian population is a great part of this country, great heritage,” Trump said.

He brought up other teams with Native American-derived names, like the Kansas City Chiefs, and one other that changed its name — Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians.

“When you go back to Indians, they’ve told us they don’t know why these names are being taken off,” Trump said.

The president also suggested such name changes insult Native Americans.

“I think it’s degrading to the Indian population, and it’s a great population,” Trump said. “And they like when they’re called by various names. Now, Washington, the Redskins, perhaps that’s a little different, a little bit different, but I can tell you I spoke to people of Indian heritage and they love that name and they love that team. … I think it’s a superior name to what they have right now. It had heritage behind it; it had something special.”

Critics asked former Commanders owner Dan Snyder to change the name for years, saying it’s offensive to Native Americans. Snyder said he’d never change the name, but after pressure from the public and major team sponsors such as FedEx and Nike to change the nickname, the team announced a “thorough review” into the team’s name and logo in July 2020. Ten days later, the team announced it would retire the name.

The team played the 2020 and 2021 seasons as the Washington Football Team. Then in February 2022, the team revealed its new name and logo.

Current owner Josh Harris inherited the Commanders branding when the ownership group he leads bought the team from Snyder in 2023.

Neither Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office nor the team have commented on Trump’s remarks.

Harris previously has said there will be no name change.