Donald Trump has suggested that the Washington Commanders should consider naming their new $3.7 billion stadium after him, despite having criticized the franchise in the past.

This Sunday, Trump is expected to attend his first NFL game of the season, where he will watch the Commanders face off against the Detroit Lions at Northwest Stadium.

The former president will be watching the game from a luxury VIP suite, accompanied by Josh Harris, the team’s owner, who has been instrumental in the planning of their new stadium.

Conversations between Trump and Harris could be particularly interesting, as a White House official has disclosed that Trump hopes the new stadium will bear his name.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told ESPN, “It would be a fitting tribute, as President Trump was pivotal in making the new stadium’s construction possible.”

While Leavitt did not provide further details, she added, “It’s what the president desires, and it is likely to come to fruition.”

President Donald Trump is set to attend his first NFL game of the season on Sunday afternoon

Trump will meet owner Josh Harris (left) when he watches the Commanders take on the Lions

Renderings of a new football facility to be built on the site of RFK Stadium have been revealed

ESPN claim that the Commanders anticipate a conversation with Trump to be held, regarding the stadium’s name, but no formal conversations have taken place yet. 

It was confirmed in September that the Commanders will return to the site of their former home, RFK Stadium, amid plans to build a stunning $3.7m stadium.

The Commanders currently play at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, but aim to open a new venue in 2030 on the same RFK site where the team played when it won three Super Bowls in the 1980s and ’90s.

Congress passed a bill transferring the RFK Stadium land to the city that was signed by then-President Joe Biden in early January. 

That paved the way for making it possible to replace the old stadium with a mixed-use development, including the new venue for the Commanders.

Trump made mention of the stunning stadium back in May, when he confirmed that the 2027 NFL Draft would be heading to the National Mall in Washington, DC.  

Throughout the announcement, Trump’s desk was scattered with personalized Washington football memorabilia, including a ‘Trump’ No. 47 replica jersey. 

The National Mall is capable of holding several hundred thousands spectators, although the exact capacity for the 2027 NFL Draft has yet to be announced. 

Trump’s office was adorned with Commanders gear during an NFL announcement in May 

The Commanders will return to the site of their former home, RFK Stadium, starting in 2030

Washington DC has never hosted the event since it began changing venues in 2015. Previously the draft was primarily held in New York and Philadelphia.

He then discussed the Commanders’ plans to return to the site of the RFK Stadium – which hadn’t been approved at the time – and heaped praise on the team’s plans.

‘I don’t think there is a better site anywhere in the world than that site,’ Trump said, while taking some credit for the plan. 

‘It sat there for years and people were talking about stadiums and 25 different sites. I said they’re not talking about the best site. That’s the best site there is.’ 

However, months later, Trump said he intended to block federal support for the stadium project unless the Commanders change back to the name it formerly adopted before being axed in 2020 amid pressure from fans, sponsors and Native American groups who considered ‘Redskins’ a racial slur.

‘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 president said on Truth Social in August.

Northwest Stadium has been the home of the Commanders since 1997. It was ranked as the second-worst NFL stadium by Daily Mail last month, only besting MetLife Stadium, home of division rivals the New York Giants and the AFC’s New York Jets. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s long-running feud with the NFL dates back to his days as owner of the New Jersey Generals – a United States Football League (USFL) franchise.

Washington is one of the NFL’s most storied teams, reaching the NFC championship last year

Trump’s feud with the NFL dates back to his days as owner of the New Jersey Generals 

Trump only bought into the USFL after striking out in his effort to acquire the NFL’s Baltimore Colts in 1983.

A year later, Trump had a reported chance to buy the Dallas Cowboys for just $50 million but declined, allowing Jerry Jones to acquire the franchise for $140 million later in the decade. Now the Cowboys rank as the most valuable team in sports with a $13 billion valuation from Forbes.

And Trump wasn’t only using money to get an NFL team. He also tried using leverage, according to Jeff Pearlman’s 2018 book, ‘Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL’.

Launched in 1983, the USFL was a spring football league that boasted a surprising array of talent, including future Trump political ally Herschel Walker. 

One year into the league, Trump would buy Walker’s team, the New Jersey Generals, which he’d own until the league went bust in 1986.

The USFL’s abbreviated history is defined by several clear mistakes, like the decision to add six new franchises after a promising inaugural season in 1983. 

But perhaps the bigger misstep was choosing to move its season to the fall in 1985 and challenge the NFL directly – a decision that was influenced heavily by Trump.

According to interviews conducted by Pearlman, Trump’s initial plan was to have the USFL fold and the NFL absorb the Generals as an expansion franchise.

Trump pictured during his tenure as majority owner of the New Jersey Generals back in 1984

However, during a meeting with then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in New York City’s Pierre Hotel in 1984, that plan was foiled.

‘He basically said to Rozelle,’ Pearlman explained, ‘I don’t really give a s*** about the USFL. I want an NFL team. What do I have to do to get in the NFL?’

‘It was basically an offer to throw the USFL under the bus.’ Trump did not get the answer he was looking for.

‘Rozelle said to him, ‘As long as I’m the commissioner, you’re never going to have a team,’ Pearlman continued. ‘He didn’t trust him. He thought he was a scumbag. 

‘He didn’t say, ‘I think you’re a scumbag,’ but Rozelle made his feelings toward Trump very well known. [Rozelle] also made them well known during the trial when he testified.’

Unable to pay its bills, the league folded before the 1986 season.