President Donald Trump’s fears about the D.C. Council’s ability to negate to keep the Washington Commanders in the city at the RFK site appear to have come to fruition after the exclusive negotiation window closed on Tuesday between the team and the city.
Per WUSA 9, Maryland and Virginia are set to have their bids on sites resurrected for the Commanders.
“Maryland and Virginia are reportedly off the bench as the state and commonwealth’s bids to house the Commanders’ stadium have reportedly been resurrected,” the WUSA 9 report states. “Hesitation within DC Council has pushed the District past a major deadline.
“While Washington, D.C. remained the frontrunner for the deal, with support from the Commanders franchise and NFL executives, the exclusivity clause that kept its stately neighbors from making their bids expired Tuesday. Leaving the ball in anyone’s court — or field, if you will.”
There is time for DC to keep the Washington Commanders
© Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
While D.C.’s bid to have the Commanders play at the RFK site isn’t dead yet, the pressure might be mounting for the executive branch of the federal government to figure out a way to keep the NFL team in the nation’s capital
.Earlier this month, Trump told the media that he planned to help the Commanders play at the RFK site.
“We’ll see, but if I can help them out, I will,” Trump said. “Ultimately, we control that. The federal government ultimately controls that.”
Would Trump want something in return?
There has been speculation that the 47th President could ask something in return for helping the Commanders stay in D.C., including changing the name of the team back to Redskins.
Trump recently said he wouldn’t have changed the name to Commanders in the first place, though he likes the name now.
“Well, you want me to make a controversial statement? I would,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t have changed the name. It just doesn’t have the same, it doesn’t have the same ring to me. But, you know, winning can make everything sound good.
“So if they win, all of a sudden the Commanders sounds good, but I wouldn’t have changed the name.”
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