美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)威胁华盛顿指挥官足球队(Washington Commanders football team)，称如果该队不恢复原名，他将不会推动该队在华盛顿特区建造新体育场的交易。
“我在华盛顿·雷斯金斯发表的声明完全被夸大了，但只是以一种非常积极的方式。特朗普周日在他的社交媒体平台上写道，我可能会对他们施加限制，如果他们不把名字改回原来的“华盛顿红人”，并去掉“华盛顿指挥官”这个荒谬的绰号，我就不会为他们达成在华盛顿建造体育场的协议。
尽管特朗普发表了声明，但他没有参与关于指挥官潜在新体育场的“交易”，也不清楚他会实施什么样的“限制”。
在周日的另一篇帖子中，特朗普呼吁指挥官们“立即”改名。
“他们的遗产和声望正在被有系统地剥夺。现在的时代与三四年前不同，”特朗普在他的社交媒体平台上写道。
美国广播公司新闻已经联系了指挥官，请他们对特朗普的要求发表评论。
当被问及特朗普周一推动指挥官改名的问题时，白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特表示，总统对希望看到指挥官改名是“认真的”，并暗示他将利用他的“谈判技巧”来实现这一目标。莱维特没有解释他是如何卷入这个私人的、地方性的问题的。
莱维特对记者说:“体育是这位总统的众多爱好之一，他希望看到这支球队的名字得到改变。”。“我想你已经看到总统参与了许多大多数总统没有参与的事情。他是一位非传统的总统。”
特朗普还表示，克利夫兰守护者棒球队(Cleveland Guardians)也应该换回旧名，并喊出了拥有该球队的俄亥俄州参议员候选人马特·多兰(Matt Dolan)，声称他因为更名而输掉了几次选举。
“克利夫兰棒球队的老板马特·多兰非常热衷于政治，因为那个可笑的改名，他已经连输了三次选举。他不明白的是，如果他把名字改回克利夫兰印第安人队，他可能真的会赢得选举。印度人受到非常不公平的待遇。让印度人再次伟大(MIGA)!，”特朗普周日写道。
据报道，克里夫兰守卫者队棒球运营总裁克里斯·安东内蒂在周日的一份声明中表示，目前还没有任何改变球队名称的计划美联社.
“我们知道对于我们几年前做出的决定有不同的观点，但显然这是我们做出的决定。在过去的四年里，我们有机会作为守护者建立一个品牌，并对我们面前的未来感到兴奋，”安东内蒂说。
当被美国广播公司问及此事时,《卫报》没有任何额外的评论。
据美联社(Associated Press)报道，该队的管理合伙人乔希·哈里斯(Josh Harris)今年早些时候表示，该队不会改变名称。
美国印第安人事务协会(Association on American Indian Affairs)在给美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)的一份声明中表示，特朗普周日的言论“分散了人们对本届政府继续对土著人民造成的真正伤害的注意力”，而且“这里没有对土著民族的真正尊重——只有空洞的姿态和政治戏剧。”
“认为土著民族广泛支持使用这些名字和吉祥物的想法是错误的。该协会在周一的一份声明中说:“数百个，如果不是数千个，土著民族，土著组织，学者和青年领袖一再明确表示，土著的‘主题’名称和吉祥物是冒犯性的，没有人性的。”。
该协会接着说，这些吉祥物和名字-就像以前指挥官的名字一样-“把我们变成了漫画。”
这华盛顿指挥官2020年7月，在多年抱怨其对土著美国人的种族主义内涵后，放弃了它以前的名字。两周后，球队采用了通用的“华盛顿足球队”，尽管它只应该在2020-21赛季就位。然后在2022年，该团队透露其新名称将是华盛顿指挥官。
A2020研究来自密歇根大学和加州大学伯克利分校的研究人员发现，在接受调查的1000多名美国原住民中，至少有一半人对指挥官以前的团队名称感到不快。
2024年，参议院通过了一项两党法案一致同意允许联邦政府在罗伯特·F·肯尼迪纪念体育场目前所在的位置租赁超过170英亩的土地，这样就有可能建造一个新的体育场。该队目前在马里兰州兰多弗的西北体育场比赛。
该法案将体育场的管辖权从联邦政府转移到了地方政府。
“我们非常感谢我们的民选官员在两党的基础上走到一起，让华盛顿有机会决定RFK体育场的未来。该法案将创造一个平等的竞争环境，这样所有未来华盛顿指挥官家的潜在位置都可以得到公平的考虑，并给予我们的特许经营权，为我们所有的球迷提供最好的体验，”哈里斯在一份声明中说声明2024年12月21日。
国家橄榄球联盟、指挥官和华盛顿市长布瑟在4月下旬宣布，该市将离开马里兰州，迁回国家首都。
华盛顿市议会目前正在辩论一项耗资37亿美元在老RFK体育场原址建造体育场的提案，三十多年来，这个特许经营者称之为家。
指挥官和特区政府之间达成的协议必须在今年夏天得到特区政府的批准。
Trump 'won't make a deal' with Washington Commanders if team refuses to change name
President Donald Trump threatened the Washington Commanders football team, saying he will not facilitate a deal for the team's new stadium to be built in Washington, D.C., if it does not revert to its former name.
"My statement on the Washington Reskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way. 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," Trump wrote on his social media platform on Sunday.
Despite Trump's statements, there is no "deal" that he is involved in regarding the Commanders' potential new stadium and it remains unclear what "restriction" he could put in place.
In another post on Sunday, Trump called on the Commanders to "immediately" change their name.
"Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago," Trump wrote on his social media platform.
ABC News has reached out to the Commanders for comment on Trump's demands.
Asked about Trump's push for the Commanders' name change on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president is "serious" about wanting to see the Commanders change the name and suggested he would use his "negotiating skills" to make it happen. Leavitt didn't explain how he could get involved in this private and local issue.
"Sports is one of the many passions of this president, and he wants to see the name of that team changed," Leavitt said to reporters. "I think you've seen the president gets involved in a lot of things that most presidents have not. He's a non-traditional president."
Trump also said that the Cleveland Guardians baseball team should switch back to its old name, too, and called out Ohio Senate candidate Matt Dolan, who owns the team, claiming that he lost several elections because of the name change.
"The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change. What he doesn't understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!," Trump wrote on Sunday.
The Cleveland Guardians' President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti, said in a statement on Sunday that there have not been any plans to change the team's name, according toThe Associated Press.
"We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but obviously it's a decision we made. We've got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future that's in front of us," Antonetti said.
The Guardians didn't have any additional comment when asked by ABC News.
With the Commanders, Josh Harris, the managing partner for the team, said earlier this year that the team would not be changing its name, according to The Associated Press.
The Association on American Indian Affairs said in a statement to ABC News that Trump's remarks on Sunday are a "distraction from the real harm this administration continues to inflict on Native Peoples" and that there is "no genuine respect for Native Nations here -- only empty gestures and political theater."
"The idea that Native Nations broadly support the use of these names and mascots is false. Hundreds, if not thousands of Native Nations, Native organizations, scholars and youth leaders have repeatedly and clearly expressed that Native 'themed' names and mascots are offensive and dehumanizing," the association said in a statement on Monday.
The association went on to say that these mascots and names -- like the former name for the Commanders -- "reduce us to caricatures."
TheWashington Commandersdropped its former name in July 2020 after years of complaints over its racist connotations toward Native Americans. The team adopted the generic "Washington Football Team" two weeks later, though it was only supposed to be in place for the 2020-21 season. Then in 2022, the team revealed its new name would be the Washington Commanders.
A2020 studyfrom the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley found that at least half of more than 1,000 Native Americans surveyed were offended by Commanders' previous team name.
In 2024, the Senate passed abipartisan billwith unanimous consent that would allow the federal government to lease more than 170 acres of land at the site where the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium is currently located, which would allow for the possibility of a new stadium to be built. The team currently plays at the Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.
The bill transfers the jurisdiction of the stadium site from the federal government to local D.C. authorities.
"We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C. the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK stadium site. This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans," Harris said in astatementon Dec. 21, 2024.
The National Football League, the Commanders and D.C. Mayor Bowser announced in late April that the city would leave Maryland and move back to the nation's capital.
The D.C. City Council is currently debating a proposal for a $3.7 billion stadium at the site of the old RFK Stadium, which the franchise called home for more than three decades.
The deal worked out between the Commanders and D.C. must be approved by the D.C. Council this summer.
