Whether or not the Washington Commanders should revert to their Redskins name and change it has been hotly contested for years, and President Donald Trump has weighed in.
While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, President Trump was asked by John Fredericks if the Commanders' plan to build a new stadium at the RFK Stadium site was contingent on a name change to the Redskins. Trump didn't address the question about the stadium, but he did give his thoughts on the “superior” name.
“The Indian population is a great part of this country, great heritage,” he said (via NBC4 Washington).
Trump then compared it to other names derived from Native American culture, such as the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Guardians, formerly the Indians. “When you go back to Indians, they've told us they don't know why these names are being taken off,” Trump claimed.
In fact, Trump believes it is “degrading to the Indian population” to take these names away from teams. He did concede that the Redskins-to-Commanders name change was “a little different.”
“Now, Washington, the Redskins, perhaps that’s a little different, a little bit different, but I can tell you I spoke to people of Indian heritage, and they love that name, and they love that team,” said Trump. “And I think it’s a superior name to what they have right now. It had heritage behind it; it had something special.”
Despite Donald Trump's wishes, the Commanders will likely keep their name for the foreseeable future. In February 2025, current Commanders owner Josh Harris discussed the matter. He told ESPN that the name change is “now embraced” by the team.
“I think it's now embraced by our team, by our culture, by our coaching staff,” Harris explained. “So we're going with that.”
He explained that he likes what the name represents, explaining, “It's about players who love football, are great at football, hit hard, [are] mentally tough, great teammates. It's really meaningful that that name is growing in meaning.”
After the 2019 season, the Washington Redskins became the Football Team. After playing as the Football Team for two seasons, their new name, the Commanders, was introduced in 2022.
The current owner of the team, Harris, inherited the Commanders name after purchasing the team in 2023. Previous owner John Snyder oversaw the last few name changes.
Since their name change to the Commanders, Washington has won 24 out of 51 games. They are coming off an appearance in the NFC Championship game to the Philadelphia Eagles with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Now, they are gearing up for the 2025 NFL Draft. The Commanders have the 29th overall pick in the first round after making it to the NFC Championship.
