DC leaders respond to President Trump’s call for Commanders to go back to previous name

Over the weekend President Donald Trump reignited the debate over the name of Washington s NFL crew Now D C -area leaders are weighing in on his comments Related stories Trump threatens to hold up stadium deal if Washington Commanders don t switch back to Redskins New organization rallies in promotion of the RFK Stadium deal DC Council chair thinks city will reach a deal to build Commanders stadium at RFK site Trump revealed in a Truth Social post over the weekend that the White House could get in the way of the deal to return the Commanders to a new stadium in D C if the company doesn t go back to its previous name 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 Trump stated Sunday On Monday morning D C Mayor Muriel Bowser was demanded about the comments and declared her focus is on winning council approval for the billion plan to bring the Commanders back to the nation s capital I think the thing that we should focus on in D C is doing our part and I have worked for the better part of years to get our part completed including getting control of the land coming to an agreement with the band in advancing a fantastic agreement to the council So we need to do our part Let s focus on doing our part Bowser reported The squad changed its name three years ago following a general outcry as a great number of considered the previous name offensive Bowser was also requested whether a return to the previous name would change her position on bringing the group back to the nation s capital No it wouldn t It would not change she explained Despite the threat of getting in the middle of the project the White House has not made any moves to officially intervene Bowser disclosed How the president could choose to stop the project is not yet known While funding for the project has been included in the D C budget which will be voted on next week the council has yet to approve the terms of the deal Hearings on the stadium deal are expected to begin July In a message to WTOP D C Council chair Phil Mendelson responded to Trump s comments by saying his focus is on getting the best deal for taxpayers and getting that deal across the finish line I have heard from no zero District residents complaining about the name change or saying this is an issue in connection with the stadium Mendelson mentioned WTOP reached out to the Commanders for comment Source