Trump’s latest demand: Washington football and Cleveland baseball teams should change names back

CLEVELAND AP President Donald Trump wants Washington s football franchise and Cleveland s baseball association to revert to their former names Trump commented on Truth Social on Sunday morning that The Washington Whatever s should WITHOUT DELAY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Company There is a big clamoring for this Likewise the Cleveland Indians one of the six original baseball teams with a storied past Our great Indian people in massive numbers want this to happen 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 Josh Harris whose group bought the Commanders from former owner Dan Snyder in explained earlier this year the name was here to say Not long after taking over Harris quieted speculation about going back to Redskins saying that would not happen Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti indicated before Sunday s championship against the Athletics that there weren t any plans to revisit the name change We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a sparse 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 announced Both teams have had their new names since the seasons Washington dropped Redskins after the season and was known as the Washington Football Company for two years before moving to Commanders Cleveland declared in December they would drop Indians It reported the switch to Guardians in July In the band phased out Chief Wahoo as its primary logo The name changes had their share of supporters and critics as part of national discussions about institutions and teams to drop logos and names considered racist The Guardians are the fifth name for Cleveland s baseball franchise It joined the American League in as one of the eight charter franchises as the Blues It switched to Bronchos a year later and used the Naps from through before moving to Indians in Washington started in Boston as the Redskins in before moving to the nation s capital four years later Washington and Cleveland share another thing in common David Blitzer is a member of Harris ownership group with the Commanders and holds a minority stake in the Guardians AP sports https apnews com sports Source