Don Van Natta Jr. and Adam Schefter, reporting for ESPN:
President Donald Trump wants the Washington Commanders to name
their planned $3.7 billion stadium after him, multiple sources
with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.A senior White House source said there have been back-channel
communications with a member of the Commanders’ ownership group,
led by Josh Harris, to express Trump’s desire to have the domed
stadium in the nation’s capital bear his name. The new stadium is
being built on the old RFK Stadium site that served as the team’s
home from 1961 to 1996.“That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who
made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible,” White House
press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ESPN on Friday night via
email. Leavitt declined to answer additional questions, but the
senior White House source told ESPN: “It’s what the president
wants, and it will probably happen.”
Typically, venues like stadiums, airports, bridges, etc. aren’t named after political leaders until after they’ve died. Not so with mad kings rapidly descending into megalomaniacal dementia. This is crazy, pure and simple, just like boogering up the White House to make it look like a Las Vegas wedding chapel. Also, the economic reality is that the naming rights for new stadiums are typically sold to corporate sponsors for large sums. (There are exceptions.) To name the stadium after Trump would likely require foregoing half a billion dollars.
In July, Trump said he would block the construction of the stadium
if Harris did not change the team name from Commanders to its old
name the Redskins, which is considered offensive to some Native
American groups.
Perhaps “Orangeskins” would work as a compromise.
