White House says Donald Trump is serious about wanting the Commanders to revert to Redskins

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after Donald Trump threatened to hold up a deal for a new football stadium in the nation's capital if the Washington Commanders did not go back to the name Redskins, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president's comments were not a joke.

“The president was serious,” Leavitt told reporters Monday while answering questions on the White House driveway. “Sports is one of the many passions of this president and he wants to see the name of that team changed.”

Asked why he’s getting involved, Leavitt called Trump a “nontraditional president" and said sports fans are behind him on this.

“I think you’ve seen the president gets involved in a lot of things that most presidents have not,” Leavitt said. “He’s a nontraditional president. He likes to see results on behalf of the American people and, if you actually poll this issue with sports fans across the country, and even in this city, people actually do support the president’s position on this and the name change.”

After former President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress late last year to transfer land from the federal government to the District of Columbia, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the team reached an agreement in April to build on the site of the old RFK Stadium. That is still pending approval by the Council of the District of Columbia.

“I think the thing that we should focus on in D.C. is doing our part,” Bowser said. “I have worked for the better part of 10 years to get our part completed, including getting control of the land, coming to an agreement with the team and advancing a fantastic agreement to the council, so we need to do our part.”

Dan Snyder, who had said multiple times as owner since 1999 that he would never change the name, did so in July 2020 after facing mounting pressure from sponsors and critics. Washington Football Team was used for two seasons before Commanders was unveiled as the permanent name in early 2022.

Josh Harris, whose group bought the team from Snyder in 2023, said earlier this year the Commanders name was here to stay.

Savannah Romero, co-founder and deputy director of the Black Liberation-Indigenous Sovereignty Collective, said in a statement Monday responding to Trump that “Native Americans are not mascots.”

"To equate Native people with cartoonish mascots alongside animals is a gross and ongoing tactic of dehumanization,” said Romero, who is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Nation.

The National Congress of American Indians has since 1950 considered eradicating Native-themed mascots one of its priorities. President Mark Macarro called any attempt to purport to speak for Native communities “an affront to tribal sovereignty.”

“Imagery and fan behaviors that mock, demean, and dehumanize Native people have no place in modern society,” Macarro said in a statement. “NCAI will continue to stand in support of the dignity and humanity of Native peoples.”

At least one organization, the Native American Guardians Association, has filed petitions to bring back the Redskins and Cleveland Indians names.

A handful of fans who were asked by The Associated Press for their opinion generally dismissed Trump's comments. Ender Tuncay, who grew up in the Washington area and returns to visit family, called it “typical Trump stupidity.”

“It’s just him focusing on things that aren’t consequential and trying to distract from the actual issues that are going on,” Tuncay said, adding he does not care what the name is. “But I’d like them to get the new stadium, for sure. I like this site where it is. My parents used to tell me stories of how great RFK was back when we were really, really good.”

Ford Flemmings, who worked as a vendor at the old RFK Stadium, said everyone is on the bandwagon with the name Commanders now that the team is winning.

“I liked Washington when it was just plain Washington,” Flemmings said. “If they change their name, so be it. I’ll still be a Washington (fan), whatever the Washington team is.”

AP White House reporter Darlene Superville and video journalist River Zhang contributed to this report.

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FILE - Washington Commanders jerseys are displayed at an event to unveil the NFL football team's new identity, Feb. 2, 2022, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)