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The Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions game today will have President Donald Trump in the audience.
The Lions and Commanders kick off at 4:25 p.m. ET today (Nov. 9), and according to ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter, “President Donald Trump will attend today’s Commanders’ home game against the Detroit Lions. Trump will attend the game as Josh Harris’ guest and is expected to participate in halftime activities honoring the military.”
This announcement follows Trump reportedly expressing his desire to have the new Commanders’ stadium in D.C. to be named after him.
“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.
Trump has several buildings named after him that he owns such as Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, The Trump Building on 40 Wall Street, and Trump International Hotel and Tower on 1 Central Park West which all three are located in New York City. Besides the buildings that are owned by the Trump Organization, several buildings across the nation have a licensing agreement in regards to using the Trump name.
Even if the stadium is not named after Trump, the name of the stadium will reportedly not be named by the NFL team but another government body.
“The team doesn’t have the authority. They can’t name the stadium … on their own,” the source said. “The city would be involved in that decision, and the Park Service would be involved.”
In some shape or form the source is confident that Trump will get his way noting that “he has plenty of leverage” to make what he wants happen.
“He has cards to play. 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 said. “Trump has plenty of cards to play to get his way.”
Earlier this year, Trump threatened to block the Commanders’ stadium project if they didn’t change their name back to “Washington Redskins” — the moniker that was changed in 2020 as it is a racial slur to Native Americans.
“My statement on the Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “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.”
Additionally, a senior White House source told the publication: “It’s what the president wants, and it will probably happen.”
The Lions and Commanders will face each other at 4:25 p.m. ET.
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