Trump’s Racist Demand and Federal Overreach
On Sunday, July 20, 2025, Donald Trump made two posts on Truth Social regarding the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians.
First Post (Approximately 12:52 PM CDT)
“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!!!”
Second Post (Approximately 5:52 PM CDT)
“My statement on the Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way. 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. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone.”
First, it’s too bad he didn’t go to Harvard. The spelling and grammar might have been better.
Second, he may have learned that he is the President of the United States and is only in control of federal issues. He is not in charge of Washington, DC. He is also not the owner of the Washington Commanders football team.
He may want to call the team the “Redskins”, but his claim that “in massive numbers, Our great Indian people (his words, not mine) want this to happen” lacks any supporting evidence.
In 2020, the New University of Michigan research revealed high rates of opposition not only to the use of gestures and chants but also to Native American mascots and team names like the NFL’s Washington Redskins. Among Native Americans who frequently engage in tribal or cultural practices, 67 percent found the Redskins team name offensive; 70 percent found sports fans wearing chief headdresses offensive; 65 percent found sports fans chanting the tomahawk chop offensive; and 73 percent found sports fans imitating Native American dances offensive.
Trump always says the federal government should get out of the lives of the American people. But here he wants to control what a team owner calls his team.
The team’s name change was a private decision driven by significant public pressure, including from major sponsors, amid a broader societal reckoning on racial justice.
Regarding a new stadium, while the federal government once owned the land where the old RFK Stadium stood, control of this 180-acre parcel was transferred to the District of Columbia government through a 99-year lease by an act of Congress and signed into law earlier this year. This transfer shifts the authority over the site to local D.C. officials. While the President can exert political pressure, directly reversing a congressionally approved land transfer for the purpose of dictating a private entity’s branding would be an unprecedented and legally complex endeavor, likely requiring new legislation or extensive legal challenges.
With all the problems this country is facing, one has to wonder why this is something the President is bringing up now. One would think there is a real issue out there that he wants us to look away from.
