Fact Check: POTUS Donald Trump Demands the Commanders and Guardians to Change Team Name

The Claim: President Donald Trump demanded that the NFL’s Washington Commanders and MLB’s Cleveland Guardians revert to their old names. 

The Washington-based NFL team retired its name in 2020, going from Washington Redskins to Washington Football Team. In 2022, the franchise put out a statement announcing that it had adopted the name Washington Commanders. 

Months after the NFL’s NFC East franchise went for the change, the AL Central division’s Cleveland Indians announced their decision to begin a process to change their team name. The franchise revealed the name on July 23, 2021, and officially went from the Indians to the Guardians on November 19, 2021. (per Cleveland.com)

Three years on, Donald Trump commented on both these teams, with his words indicating that he is keen on seeing the franchise resume the usage of their older names. 

The President took to his Truth Social account on July 21, putting out a post with two sports teams named in it, i.e., the Washington Commanders and the Cleveland Guardians.

He wrote,My statement on the Washington Redskins 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. The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone. Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians. 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)!”

Our Rating: False

The post is from Donald Trump. However, it has the words “I may put a restriction on them if they don’t change” for the Commanders. For the Guardians, his words are “if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might win an Election.”

Primarily, the words ‘may’ and ‘if’ do not showcase an explicit demand. Instead, these can be seen as the President offering a suggestion to the NFL franchise and offering an avenue for Matt Dolan to turn his luck in the elections. 

A day before, Trump put out another message on Truth Social, saying, “The Washington “Whatever’s” should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”

Here, the word “should” positions it as more of an urge and a strong opinion than a demand. ‘IMMEDIATELY’ in all caps does not make it a demand but positions it as a strong ask from the President. The final four words of the message, also in all caps, serve as a strong recommendation. 

Donald Trump has maintained his stance on the team names 

President Trump has not changed his stance across terms, with him having a similar view even during the tail end of his first term in the White House. 

In July 2020, he had tweeted, “They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now!”

Even before assuming office, Trump had put out a tweet calling for “FOCUS” on “far bigger problems” than the Redskins name change. It can be seen as contradictory to his current stance of urging for a name change, but it shows he is keen on having the older name in use. 

Trump has hinted at not making a deal for the NFL franchise to build a new stadium, but that cannot be construed as an outright demand for the name change. As of now, the franchise has not shown any indication of a name change, per NFL Insider Albert Breer on The Dan Patrick Show. 

Cleveland Guardians’ President of Baseball Operations addressed the President’s Statement in a presser. Per AP’s Joe Reedy, he said, “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 4 years and are excited about the future.”

Our Fact Check Sources

Washington Commanders, July 13, 2020. Twitter
Washington Commanders Statement, Feb 2, 2022. Website
Cleveland Guardians, Dec 15, 2020. Twitter
Cleveland.com, November 19, 2021. Cleveland Indians will officially become Cleveland Guardians on Friday
Donald Trump, July 21, 2025. Truth Social
Donald Trump, July 20, 2025. Truth Social
Donald Trump, July 13, 2020. Twitter
Donald Trump, October 8, 2013. Twitter
The Dan Patrick Show, July 22, 2025. Twitter
Joe Reedy, July 20, 2025. Twitter

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