Donald Trump accused of blatant hypocrisy with demand Washington Commanders revert back to Redskins name

The President of the United States has more serious things to worry about than the name of Washington's NFL team, according to none other than the President of the United States.

'President should not be telling the Washington Redskins to change their name-our country has far bigger problems!' read a 2013 Twitter post from Donald Trump. 'FOCUS on them, not nonsense.'

The 12-year-old post resurfaced over the weekend after President Trump called for owners of the team now known as the Washington Commanders to revert to 'Redskins' – a pejorative term deemed offensive by many Native Americans.

Naturally, critics are now accusing Trump of hypocrisy.

'Pick a lane, man,' wrote one critic on X. 'Hypocrisy in 280 characters or less.'

'Trump in 2013: "Bigger problems than Redskins!"' another post began. 'Meanwhile, 2025: Still tweeting about 2016. Focus, Don! #TrumpTweets #RedskinsRebrand.'

Many others accused Trump of attempting to distract from uproar over his refusal to release court files related to the prosecution of his former friend, deceased pedophile Jeffery Epstein.

'The only real conclusion to be drawn from Trump playing culture war hits like 'bring the Redskins back' is that he is terrified of the Epstein stuff and terrified of losing his base by refusing to release the files,' read a post by Sonny Bunch, an editor for Bulwark.

Trump's 2013 post was a response to then-President Barack Obama, who told reporters he'd consider changing the Redskins' name if he owned the team.

Since then, Trump has won a pair of Presidential elections, while Washington dropped 'Redskins' in 2020 before adopting 'Commanders' two years later. And with the shoe now firmly on the other foot, it was Trump who called for Washington's NFL team to again change its name on Sunday, going so far as to threaten a previously announced stadium deal in the nation's capital.

'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,' Trump wrote on his social media site.

Months earlier, Trump took credit for an agreement between the Commanders and District of Columbia to allow the team to build a new stadium at the site of its former home, RFK Stadium. It's unclear if Trump can hold the deal up after then-President Joe Biden signed a bill in January to transfer the land from the federal government to the District of Columbia.

Of course, Trump's post on the subject didn't get into any such details. Instead he focused on his desire to see the Commanders re-adopt 'Redskins.'

'The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team,' Trump wrote on social media before a scheduled round of golf at Trump National Golf Club in Washington D.C. 'There is a big clamoring for this.'

Daily Mail has reached out to Commanders spokespeople for comment.

While Trump may be slightly off about the team name (they were the 'Washington Redskins' and then the 'Washington Football Team' but never the 'Washington Redskins Football Team'), he is right about uproar over the changes.

Fans and even some Native American groups have voiced support for the team's new ownership group to revert to 'Redskins.' Several public opinion polls of self-identified Native Americans have found most were not offended by the term, while critics have pointed to academic research by the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley that found the opposite was true.

Trump appeared to reference the public polling in favor of a name change on Sunday.

'Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen,' he claimed. 'Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!'

He also demanded the same from MLB's Cleveland Guardians, née: 'Indians.'

'Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past,' he wrote.

It's unclear where Trump is getting 'six original baseball teams' from. The NHL famously has six original teams and MLB's National League was once limited to a half dozen clubs. However, the Guardians franchise is in the American League, where it has been known as the Broncos, Naps and Indians before adopting its current moniker in 2022.

Guardians' president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, told the Associated Press the team isn't considering another name change.

'We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but obviously it's a decision we made. We've got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future that's in front of us,' he said.

Of course, 'Indians' is not quite the same as 'Redskins,' which has traditionally caused greater controversy.

Trump later underlined his demands on social media, writing in a second post: 'My statement on the Washington Redskins has totally blown up, but only in a very positive way.'

'The Team would be much more valuable, and the Deal would be more exciting for everyone,' he wrote.

'Cleveland should do the same with the Cleveland Indians,' Trump continued. 'The Owner of the Cleveland Baseball Team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three Elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change.

'What he doesn't understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an Election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. MAKE INDIANS GREAT AGAIN (MIGA)!'

Trump was referring to Guardians owner Paul Dolan's brother, Matt, who lost a US Senate bid in 2024. The Dolans are also related to New York Knicks owner James Dolan, a Trump supporter and donor.

The origin of 'Redskins' is disputed, according to a 2016 Washington Post article that claims it was first used as a pejorative as early as 1863 in Minnesota.

'The State reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory,' read an announcement in The Winona Daily Republican. 'This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth.'

By 1898, Webster's Collegiate Dictionary began defining 'redskin' with the phrase 'often contemptuous.'

A 2016 Washington Post poll found that 90 percent of the 504 Native American respondents were 'not bothered' by the team's name. Now-former team owner Daniel Snyder ultimately wrote an open letter, defending his decision to keep the moniker by citing the study.

However, that survey and other similar studies have been slammed by journalists and social scientists as being unreliable.

'The reporters and editors behind this story must have known that it would be used as justification for the continued use of these harmful, racist mascots,' read a statement from the Native American Journalists Association. 'They were either willfully malicious or dangerously naïve in the process and reporting used in this story, and neither is acceptable from any journalistic institution.'

In March of 2020, UC Berkeley revealed a study that found that more than half of its 1,000 Native American respondents were offended by the team name.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that a trademark law barring disparaging terms infringes on free speech rights. Prior to that, the United States Patent and Trademark office had tried to revoke the Redskins' trademark because it was a racial epithet.

Ultimately it was uproar over Floyd's death in 2020 that led to the change. When the team joined in a social media campaign against racism, many slammed Washington for its continued use of 'Redskins,' leading to the temporary adoption of 'Washington Football Team.'

One twist in the story of the Commanders was their unexpected success with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels last season. Finishing 12-5, Washington upset the Lions in Detroit en route to the NFC Championship, where they lost to the ultimate Super Bowl winners, the Philadelphia Eagles.

By taking another step in 2025, and potentially winning a Super Bowl as the 'Commanders,' Washington might sideline the debate indefinitely.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders owner Joshua Harris met Trump at the Oval Office in May to announce plans to bring the league's draft to the National Mall in 2027.

Washington was selected as draft hosts just days after DC mayor Muriel Bowser announced a plan to bring the team back to the city with a new field on the site of the old RFK Stadium, where the team then known as the Redskins played until 1996.

Currently, RFK Stadium stands on the site on the banks of the Anacostia River in the eastern part of the city.

The building has been in the process of a prolonged demolition that has been delayed multiple times. The building was closed back in September 2019, but structural demolition has only begun this year.