White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt seemingly fueled speculation on Saturday that the new Washington Commanders stadium could be named after President Donald Trump, calling the prospect “beautiful.”
Leavitt was responding to an ESPN report that revealed discussions have taken place between the White House and the Commanders ownership group about having the NFL team’s new, nearly $4 billion stadium in Washington, D.C., bear Trump’s name. While Trump has not spoken publicly about such a desire, a senior White House source told the outlet “It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen.”
In her statement, Leavitt hailed the idea, saying “it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser and Commanders owner Josh Harris reached a deal in April to return the team to Washington, D.C., which coincided with the first few months of Trump’s second term. The deal, earmarked at $3.7 billion, includes the development of a new 65,000-seat stadium at the site of RFK Stadium, where the team played for 35 years before moving to Landover, Maryland.
The DC Council ultimately voted to approve the entire development project in September, but not before Trump waded into the deal with a threat to block construction unless the team reverted back to its old name, the Redskins.
The deal went through despite Trump’s effort, greenlighting construction of the new stadium, which won’t begin until sometime next year.
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Trump could be similarly hard put to force the Commanders owners’ hands to name the stadium after him, since the naming rights will likely be sold to a corporate sponsor. Of the 32 NFL teams, 29 of them have sold their naming rights to corporations.
Still, a source with knowledge of the stadium deal told ESPN that Trump has “plenty of leverage” to make it happen.
