A source close to the president tells ESPN that Trump does not want to buy the new stadium’s name, but wants it to be gifted to him.
President Donald Trump speaks as the owner of the Washington Commanders, Josh Harris, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and District of Columbia's mayor, Muriel Bowser, listen during an event in the Oval Office of the White House, May 5, 2025, at Washington. AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
President Trump is headed to a Washington Commanders game on Sunday for a half-time show to honor America’s military ahead of Veterans Day, and the occasion is another chance to push for the team to name its new stadium after the commander-in-chief.
The Commanders are planning to return to Washington, D.C., following a 30-year hiatus dating to 1996 when then-owner Daniel Snyder moved the team to a new facility at Landover, Maryland.
With new ownership as of 2023 and approval by D.C.’s City Council in September, construction of a new stadium worth nearly $4 billion is set to begin next year at the site of its former home — and glory — RFK Stadium. The team is expected to move back to Northeast Washington D.C. in 2030.
Mr. Trump will be a guest of the ownership group’s lead partner, Josh Harris, on Sunday when the Commanders play the Detroit Lions. The visit is fueling speculation, first reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46892115/trump-wants-commanders-stadium-named-him), that a naming deal is in play. “It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen,” a source close to the White House told the sports channel.
The president’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, did not confirm that negotiations were underway, but expressed support for the idea.
“That would surely be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” Ms. Leavitt said in a statement to ESPN.
Naming the stadium will be largely dependent on the city’s council, which will likely sell the naming rights to a corporate sponsor. The city is investing $1.1 billion in the stadium, a decision made possible after President Biden signed legislation in 2024 to transfer the federal land to the city. The team is contributing $2.7 billion to the construction project, and will lease the stadium from the city.
As a real estate investor, Mr. Trump has several properties named after him, including multiple golf courses. But he has expressed displeasure with the Commanders’ name, which changed in 2020 after Mr. Snyder ceded to objections that the use of the Redskins moniker was offensive to Native Americans. In July, Mr. Trump threatened to hold up the stadium deal if the team didn’t return to its original name.
A source close to the president told ESPN that Mr. Trump does not want to buy the new stadium’s name, but wants it to be gifted to him for making sure the stadium construction project goes through. The source said the president “has plenty of leverage” to ensure the project reaches completion.
Mr. Trump has a long history of trying to invest in American football teams, offering to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014 after its owner, Ralph Wilson, passed away and the team was put up for sale. The president was outbid by nearly $550 million by the team’s Buffalo Sabres hockey team owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, who paid a then-record-setting $1.4 billion.
In the 1980s, Mr. Trump owned the New Jersey Generals in the United States Football League, which created a conflict for him when he tried to buy the New England Patriots in 1988. Previous to the offer, Mr. Trump persuaded the USFL to sue the NFL so it could play its games in the fall. The move, which failed, led to then-commissioner Pete Rozelle objecting to Mr. Trump’s offer to purchase the Patriot despite terms being reached with the Patriots then-owner Billy Sullivan. Mr. Trump ended up withdrawing his offer.