Even after President Donald Trump weighed in with multiple social media posts on Sunday threatening to block the deal, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser isn’t worried about the Commanders’ return to the city.
Bowser, speaking Monday after Trump called for the Commanders to revert back to their old nickname that was widely seen as offensive, doesn’t expect they’ll have to worry about Trump or Congress intervening in the Commanders’ new stadium deal. While the D.C. Council still needs to approve the deal officially, that could be done in a matter of weeks.
“I don’t think that’s an eventuality we have to plan for,” Bowser told ESPN of Trump blocking the deal. “What we have to do as a city is do our part. And so our part is we’ve come up with a great deal, we have a great plan, we’ve done the community outreach, now is the time for the council to approve it.”
Trump made multiple posts Sunday calling on both the Commanders and the Cleveland Guardians to revert back to their old team nicknames. The Commanders rebranded from the “Washington Redskins” in 2020, and the Guardians retired their old “Indians” moniker and the “Chief Wahoo” logo ahead of the 2022 season. Both team names and the old Cleveland logo drew plenty of criticism in the years leading up to the change.
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The Commanders have not yet addressed Trump’s posts, though new team owner Josh Harris has been clear that the team won’t be going back to their old name. The Guardians shut the idea down on Sunday.
Though he didn’t get into specifics, Trump threatened to block the Commanders’ new stadium deal if they didn’t change their name. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Monday that Trump’s threat was real, though it’s unclear what he could realistically do on that front.
The Commanders announced plans earlier this year for a $3.7 billion deal to build a stadium on the old Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site in Washington. The team is set to contribute $2.7 billion of that deal, and is looking for the rest to come from the city, along with retail shops, housing and more on the property. The goal is to open for the 2030 season.
“Let me be clear, we’re on the 1-yard line and it’s time to get over the line,” Bowser said, via ESPN. “I can’t even imagine having to start all over on this. There’s nobody waiting in the wings with $2.7 billion. And so this stadium is a catalyst and it will attract other investments. Any impediment to it getting done should be discouraged.
“When you’re on the 1-yard line, you want to carry it over, right? That’s all you want. No fumbles, no interceptions, let’s just get it over the line. And that’s what we’re focused on.”
As for the stadium deal itself, Bowser insists that she thinks Trump knows it is a good one for everyone involved.
“This is what I believe,” she said. “I’ve had the opportunity to speak on a couple of different occasions with the President about this site and about our team. And I can say this without equivocation, he is a Jayden Daniels fan and he said himself and the presser we were at, that this is probably the best site of any site he’s seen for a stadium. I have to think that that’s what I’ve heard him say and that’s what we’ll stick with.”
