Copyright Staten Island Advance
Donald Trump wants a new NFL stadium named after him. Of course, he does. The sitting President wants the new Washington Commanders stadium - which is planned for $3.7 billion - named after him, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Per Schefter and Don Van Natta Jr., there “have been back-channel communications with a member of the Commanders’ ownership group, led by Josh Harris, to express Trump’s desire to have the domed stadium in the nation’s capital bear his name.” “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. In July, Trump threatened to hold up the Commanders’ stadium deal if the team doesn’t switch its name back to the Washington Redskins. “I may put a restriction on them that if they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The team left Washington for Landover, Maryland, in 1997, but DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and the team announced a deal in April to bring the Commanders back to D.C. at the site of the old Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. Per ESPN: On Sept. 17, the D.C. Council voted 11-2 to approve the RFK Stadium Project. The Commanders will invest $2.7 billion -- and pay for all cost overruns -- to build the 65,000-seat stadium that sits on a 174-acre parcel 2 miles from the U.S. Capitol. The district, which will chip in $1 billion, will lease the stadium to the team. The Commanders stadium project will include housing developments, a sports complex and retail shops -- “the largest economic development project in D.C. history,” Bowser called it. Meantime, Trump is expected to attend the Commanders’ home game vs. the Detroit Lions on Sunday - amid an ongoing 40-day government shutdown and “participate in an on-field ceremony,” per ESPN.
