United States President Donald Trump reportedly wants the Washington Commanders to name their new $3.7 billion stadium after him. And while that idea is still a long way from becoming reality, Trump appears to already be taking steps toward making it happen.
According to a report from ESPN, there have been “back-channel communications” between the White House and a member of the Commanders’ ownership group about the possibility of naming the team’s new stadium after him.
The White House addressed the report but stopped short of confirming — or denying — the claim.
“That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ESPN on Friday night via email.
Although Leavitt didn’t explicitly verify the report, a senior White House official told ESPN that the new stadium will likely carry Trump’s name.
“It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen,” the source told ESPN.
According to the same source, Trump “has plenty of leverage” to make sure he gets his way, regardless of which governing body makes the final call.
“He has cards to play. He can make it very difficult, through government environmental approvals and other things, to make sure everyone who wants this stadium to be built will join to put his name on it,” the source said. “Trump has plenty of cards to play to get his way.”
While neither the team nor the White House has confirmed these discussions, The Athletic did verify one key update — reporting that Trump will attend Sunday’s game between the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders.
According to The Athletic, Trump will sit in team owner Josh Harris’ suite during the matchup, and team ownership “anticipates conversations” with the president about the new stadium while he’s there.
Needless to say, this is some pretty big news, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“Imagine finally getting rid of Dan Snyder just to have this fungus latch onto your team,” one person wrote in a post on X.
“Bro the country is literally falling apart, he needs to be in the lab figuring out how to fix the mess we’re in instead,” someone else wrote.
“I’d do anything to keep politics out of football,” another person wrote.
“Enjoy the boos,” someone else wrote.
“Gross,” another person added.
The appearance will mark the first time in 47 years that a sitting president has attended a regular-season NFL game.
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