President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump is seeking to have the Washington Commanders name their upcoming $3.7 billion stadium in Washington, D.C. after him, according to a new report from ESPN.
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ESPN cited multiple sources with knowledge of the matter in a Saturday report and said a senior White House source has been in contact with a member of the Commanders’ owners group about the president’s desire.
“It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen,” the source told the outlet.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did not confirm the behind-the-scenes talks, but she did tell ESPN the president’s name would be a “beautiful name” for the stadium, which she credited Trump with making possible.
“That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” Leavitt said, declining to answer further questions on the matter.
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According to ESPN and the source with the team, what the stadium ends up being named is not entirely up to the Commanders.
ESPN reported:
The Commanders own the new stadium’s naming rights, presumably to be sold to a corporate sponsor. But a source with firsthand knowledge of the process said that would be a separate decision from also commemorating an individual in the stadium name.
That decision would likely rest with the District of Columbia Council, which will lease the stadium to the Commanders, and the National Park Service, which manages the federal government land on the old RFK Stadium site where the new stadium will be built in time for its scheduled opening in 2030.
Trump is expected to attend a Sunday home game for the Commanders against the Detroit Lions. ESPN cited a source close to the team saying owners in attendance expect talk about the new stadium.
The D.C. Council approved in September plans for the $3.7 billion stadium in place of the old RFK Stadium. The owners group, led by Josh Harris who purchased the team in 2023, will pay $2.7 billion for the 60,000-plus-seat stadium and another $1 billion is being committed to public subsidies. The targeted opening for the stadium in 2030.
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In the middle of months-long negotiations, Trump threatened in July to delay the entire project unless the Commanders reverted back to their old name.
“The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should immediately change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team,” he wrote on Truth Social at the time. “There is a big clamoring for this.”
The post Trump Pushes NFL Team To Name $3.7B Stadium After Him: Report first appeared on Mediaite.