D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson says the Commanders potentially restoring their old name is not an obstacle to approving a stadium deal. Why it matters: President Trump has threatened to derail the deal if the NFL team doesn't revert to the Washington Redskins — but the issue might not be much of a stumbling block for the council.

Native American groups had fought for years to get Washington's NFL team to change its name. Trump just renewed the battle.

The Commander-in-Chief has tried to tie a new D.C. stadium for the Commanders to a return to the abandoned nickname.

The Washington franchise has changed away from its nickname twice, first changing from Redskins in 2020 before its most recent change to Commanders in 2022. After retiring the Redskins name and logo, the team adopted the temporary moniker of the Washington Football Team, using the same branding and uniforms from before, sans Redskins insignia.

A new poll found 25 percent of Americans approve of President Trump’s threat to nix a stadium deal in Washington over the name of the local football team. “I may put a restriction on them that if

President Donald Trump on Sunday escalated his call for the Washington Commanders to change their name back to the “Redskins,” threatening to restrict the NFL team’s stadium deal if they don’t, though it’s unclear how he would be able to.

President Donald Trump has called for the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians to change their names back to the Redskins and Indians.