United States President Donald Trump already has plenty of properties across the world named after him, from golf courses to skyscrapers. Now, however, it sounds like he wants an even more massive structure to carry his name.
According to a report from ESPN, Donald Trump wants the Washington Commanders to name their new $3.7 billion stadium after him.
ESPN reports that there have been “back-channel communications” with a member of the Commanders’ ownership group about the possibility of naming the new stadium after the current president.
The White House did not explicitly confirm this, but also did not shut down the report, however.
“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.
While Leavitt would not confirm to ESPN, a senior White House official told the outlet that the stadium would likely be named for Trump.
“It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen,” the source told ESPN.
The decision will not be entirely up to the Commanders, one way or another. It will be decided by the District of Columbia Council, which will lease the stadium to the Commanders, as well as the National Park Service, which manages the federal government land where the stadium will be built.
The source told ESPN that Trump “has plenty of leverage” to make it happen, no matter which governing body is in charge of the decision.
“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.”
We’ll have to see whether or not this ultimately happens, but it certainly seems like a real possibility.
About Dave Kelsey
Bets on sports stuff.