President Donald Trump is looking to expand his brand by having his name splashed on a multibillion-dollar football stadium in Washington, D.C.
“It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen,” a senior White House insider claimed of the president’s naming rights wish to ESPN.
Trump, 79, has been heavily involved in the creation of the Washington Commanders’ new $3.7 billion home, and sources say he’s willing to sabotage the stadium deal if it won’t become part of his legacy.
The plan for the NFL stadium was given its final approval by the D.C. City Council on Sept. 19. The district, a federal body, is pitching in $1 billion toward the facility’s creation and will also lease the site of the old RFK Stadium for the Commanders to build the new field.
Insiders claim Trump wants to put his stamp on the stadium forever. The president has reportedly been having private communications with Josh Harris, who leads the ownership group behind the Commanders, to discuss making it a Trump-branded stadium.
The White House didn’t deny rumors that Trump wanted naming rights. When asked about it, White House 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.”
While the press secretary remained oblique, a different source was upfront about Trump’s demands. The White House insider suggested that the president wasn’t above making things difficult for the project if he didn’t get his way.
“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.
They added: “Trump has plenty of cards to play to get his way.”
Trump supposedly doesn’t want to pay for naming rights, but is said to be willing to leverage his power over the District of Columbia Council and the National Parks Service—who will lease the stadium and control the land, respectively—to make sure he has enough supporters on his side.
In July, Trump openly threatened to interfere with the Commanders’ stadium project over a separate naming issue.
On Truth Social at the time, Trump held their stadium hostage with an ultimatum to return to their pre-2020 team name.
Trump wrote: “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.”
