Trump wants Cleveland Guardians to revert to old name — Indians

President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants the Cleveland Guardians to return to their old name — the Indians — during a rant that also included threats toward the Washington Commanders.

The Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians have had their current names since the 2022 seasons and both have said they have no plans to change them back. Trump said there is a “clamoring” for a return to the Indians moniker.

The Cleveland Guardians’ president of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, indicated before Sunday’s game 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 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.

Cleveland announced in December 2020 it would drop Indians. It announced the switch to Guardians in July 2021. In 2018, the team phased out “Chief Wahoo” as its primary logo.

The name changes had their share of supporters and critics as part of the national discussions about logos and names considered racist.

Trump posted Sunday afternoon that “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)!”

Matt Dolan, the son of the late Larry Dolan, no longer has a role with the Guardians. He ran the team’s charity endeavors until 2016.

Matt Dolan was a candidate in the Ohio U.S. Senate elections in 2022 and ’24, but lost.

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.

___

Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.