"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,'" the president said.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to interfere with a deal to build a new football stadium in Washington, D.C., unless the local NFL team, now known as the Commanders, changes its name back to Redskins.

President Trump’s call for the Commanders to readopt their Redskins nickname is dialing up a familiar play: turning the NFL into a political football by using sports, and Washington’s NFL team, as a cultural wedge issue.