The White House has said that it would be “beautiful” if the Washington Commanders, the NFL team, decided to name their new stadium in Washington, D.C., after President Donald Trump.
The comment came after ESPN reported that there had been backchannel discussions between the White House and the Commanders’ ownership group, with Trump expressing an interest in having the stadium named in his honour.
“It would surely be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
The Washington Commanders have not yet responded to a request for comment on the matter. Since 1997, the team has played at Northwest Stadium, previously known as FedEx Field, in Landover, Maryland. Before that, the franchise played in Washington, D.C., at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium, from 1961 until 1996.
In April, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced an agreement to bring the Commanders back to Washington at the site of the old RFK Stadium. The D.C. Council approved the deal in September, several months after Trump threatened to derail the project unless the team reverted to its former “Redskins” name. The team dropped the “Redskins” name in 2020 after years of pressure from Native American groups, who called it an ethnic slur and a derogatory reference to skin colour.
Josh Harris, who leads the Commanders’ ownership group, has said the team aims to open the new stadium by 2030.
Mayor Bowser’s office declined to comment on the possibility of the stadium being named after Trump.
The former president is also expected to attend the Commanders’ game against the Detroit Lions at Northwest Stadium this Sunday.
Trump’s presence at sporting events has been a regular occurrence during his second term. This year alone, he has attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, the annual Army-Navy college football game, the Ryder Cup golf tournament, and the US Open men’s tennis final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.