President Donald Trump means business when he says he could block the relocation of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, according to the White House.

“The president was serious,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt when asked about Trump’s threat to stop the Washington Commanders from building a new stadium if the team doesn’t go back to its previous name, Redskins.

It comes after President Trump on Sunday called for the team to readopt its original name in a post on Truth Social.

“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,” said Trump.

The US president also claimed the team would be “much more valuable” if the name was reverted back to Redskins.

New stadium deal is worth $3.7bn

The Commanders and the District of Columbia government announced a deal earlier this year which would allow the NFL team to build a new 65,000-seater stadium at the site of the Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium, which was the team’s home from 1961 until 1996, before they moved to Maryland. The deal is worth $3.7bn (£2.7bn) and is currently awaiting a vote from DC Council.

The Washington Commanders changed their Redskins name in 2020, as it was perceived as racist and offensive to Native Americans. The team was called the Washington Football Team for two seasons, before rebranding to the Washington Commanders in 2022.

The Commanders are majority owned by multi-sport investor Josh Harris, one of the main shareholders in Premier League club Crystal Palace.

President Trump’s ability to prevent the team from building a new stadium is still to be determined, after Congress passed a law transferring ownership of the RFK Stadium land from the federal government to the District of Columbia.

The US president has been previously accused of creating a diversion away from controversy surrounding the Epstein files.