Gonna follow Tom Brady to the booth after he retires?
President Donald Trump is at the Washington Commanders game this afternoon, stopping by Northwest Field for the matchup against the Detroit Lions.
Trump is in attendance to participate in the Commanders’ halftime “Salute to Service” tribute in honor of Veterans Day. And on his way to the game, Air Force One gave fans in the stadium a treat as they did a flyover en route to Landover, Maryland.
After the halftime ceremony, the president decided to stick around to catch some football, and even hopped into the FOX broadcast booth with Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma, where the crew turned it over to Trump to call some plays.
Now, the president didn’t exactly offer any groundbreaking commentary, pointing out that the Commanders had to score as they were in the red zone down 32-16 to the Lions. But he also had high praise for backup QB Marcus Mariota and the injured starting quarterback Jayden Daniels.
And of course he had to throw in some shots at his predecessor, Joe Biden…
The president stayed in the booth as Mariota threw a touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel to narrow the Lions’ lead.
Before signing off, he even told the broadcasters that he’d like to have their job someday:
I’m sure Trump is a Commanders fan given his friendship with owner Josh Harris and their proximity to D.C., but earlier in the game Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown scored a touchdown and immediately hit the “Trump dance” while pointing to Trump’s suite in celebration.
What a time to be alive.
If you want to watch his full appearance on the broadcast, you can check it out here:
Of course the Commanders are in the process of building a new stadium, and yesterday reports surfaced that Trump is encouraging owner Josh Harris to name it after…who else, but himself.
Back in 2012, the team then known as the Washington Redskins began searching for a site to construct a new stadium that would replace their current home, Northwest Stadium (formerly FedEx Field) in Landover, Maryland.
Decisionmakers eventually settled on the site of the old RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., which has sat empty since 2019.
The old stadium began coming down earlier this year after D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, the NFL, and Commanders owner Josh Harris announced a $3.7 billion deal to construct a new stadium on the site. Under the agreement the Commanders will invest $2.7 billion to build the 65,000-seat domed stadium, and will be responsible for any cost overruns. The district will provide $1 billion, with the project also including housing developments, a sports complex and retail shops.
At the time, President Donald Trump proposed blocking the stadium unless the team returned to the Redskins name, but it was ultimately approved by the D.C. council back in September, which a tentative opening date of 2030.
The new stadium will be leased to the Commanders by the city, and the area surrounding it will be managed by the National Park Service.
While no name has been announced for the new stadium yet, apparently President Donald Trump has an idea for what it should be called: He wants it named after him.
According to a report from Adam Schefter, there have been discussions from the White House expressing to Commanders owner Josh Harris the president’s desire to have the stadium named after him. And when asked about the report, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was, predictably, in favor of the potential Trump Stadium:
“That would be a beautiful name, as it was President Trump who made the rebuilding of the new stadium possible.”
A team source says that no formal conversations have taken place on the issue, but expects that the topic would come up today while Trump was at the game as a guest of Harris. And the source also seems to think that Trump has the leverage to make it 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. Trump has plenty of cards to play to get his way.”
While the Commanders have the naming rights to the stadium, they would have to get approval from the D.C. Council to name it after Trump, which would obviously be a big hurdle to clear. And you’ve gotta think the owners would want to recoup some of the $2.7 billion they’re spending on the venue by selling the naming rights to a sponsor, versus simply naming it in honor of Trump for free, which is what the president seems to be asking for.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what name they ultimately settle on. But as we’ve seen, the team also has no problem changing their name later on down the road…
