President Donald Trump is reportedly vying for the Washington Commanders’ new D.C. stadium to be named in his honor.
Back-channel conversations are taking place between the White House and the Washington Commanders’ ownership group to express Trump’s desire to have the team’s new $3.6 billion stadium bear his name, ESPN first reported on Saturday.
While the White House did not acknowledge the conversations directly, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ESPN “That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.
Trump is expected to appear at Sunday’s Commanders game against the Detroit Lions. A source with the Commanders told ESPN the organization spent days preparing for Trump’s attendance, with increased security measures in place.
The president is expected to participate in halftime activities, with a military flyover at the stadium.
Naming rights for the official football stadium belong to the Commanders, and are traditionally sold to a corporate sponsor for hundreds of millions of dollars. Stadiums also commonly are named after individuals as well — though the naming process for the new Commanders stadium will require approval from the National Park Service and the District of Columbia Council, which is made up of 11 Democrats and two independents.
Trump previously threatened to block construction of the site altogether until the team reversed its name from the Commanders back to the Redskins, despite the name’s racist connotation toward indigenous people.
A source with knowledge of the stadium deal told ESPN that Trump is confident “he has plenty of leverage” to ensure the stadium is named in his honor regardless of the government bodies in the way.
“He has cards to play. He can make it very difficult, through government environmental approvals and other things, to make sure everyone who wants this stadium to be built will join to put his name on it,” the source told ESPN. “Trump has plenty of cards to play to get his way.”