President Donald Trump made a social media post Sunday calling for the Cleveland Guardians to change back to their old team name, along with the Washington Commanders, noting the MLB franchise's "storied past."
Trump has shared his disapproval for the Commanders and Guardians' name changes in the past, but his social media post specifically called for league owners to "get it done" and revert Cleveland's franchise back to the Indians name.
"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," Trump wrote on TruthSocial. "Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense."
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Here's what to know about Trump's call for the Guardians to go back to their old name.
MORE: What to know about Donald Trump's comments on Commanders name change
Why is Donald Trump threatening the Guardians?
Trump's post was more focused on the Commanders, who have been in the news for a new stadium project in Washington, D.C., in recent months, but he grouped Washington's NFL squad in with the Guardians in teams that have made name changes in recent years.
His social media post was calling for the Guardians to revert to their old name, the Indians. He wrote that the U.S.'s Native American population "want this to happen" because "their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them."
Donald Trump just shared with the world that the #Guardians should “immediately” change their name back to the Indians: pic.twitter.com/HDWS90QmXC
— Grant Puskar (@grant_puskar_) July 20, 2025
Unlike his words for the Commanders, suggesting he would prevent their stadium deal in D.C., Trump did not threaten the Guardians' franchise in any way. He did make another post to suggest that "owner of the Cleveland baseball team, Matt Dolan," has "lost three elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change."
The Dolan family owns the Guardians, and Matt Dolan is the son of the late Larry Dolan. However, Matt Dolan no longer has a role with the team, as he was a candidate in the Ohio U.S. Senate elections in 2022 and 2024.
Trump added that if Dolan "changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an election."
There’s more: pic.twitter.com/9gSmTllAK7
— John Keim (@john_keim) July 20, 2025
Why did the Guardians change team name?
Cleveland's baseball franchise changed its name from the Indians to the Guardians due to heavy criticism for using offensive imagery of Native Americans in its name, mascot, etc.
The team's former logo, named "Chief Wahoo," was fully removed in 2018 after years of Native American groups and others criticized it for being racist. The team's name and branding remained highly controversial for years, with civil rights organizations pushing for a change away from the Indians team name. When Cleveland went to the 2016 World Series, the attention only grew the scrutiny for a name change.
While team officials defended the original name and branding for years, insisting there was no intention to offend Native Americans but rather honor them, the franchise announced in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and nationwide protests that it would begin reviewing its name.
When did Guardians change team name?
Cleveland's MLB franchise first announced in July 2020 that it would review its team name, which came years after removing the "Chief Wahoo" logo. The team continued to play as the Indians through the 2021 season, but in July 2021, they announced would be changing to the Guardians for the 2022 season.
In November 2021, the change to the Guardians became official, as rebranding was fully underway.
Will the Guardians change their name back?
On Sunday, Guardians' president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said he was initially unaware of Trump's comments but stated that a name change is "not something [he has been] tracking or [has] been paying a lot of attention to."
"We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but obviously, it's a decision we made," Antonetti said, per ESPN. "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."
As of right now, there appear to be no plans or interest from the Guardians in changing back to their old name.
Who are the original six MLB teams?
There is no group officially referred to as the "original six" MLB teams. When the National League was first founded in 1876, there were eight original teams included:
- Boston Red Stockings (now the Atlanta Braves)
- Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs)
- Cincinnati Red Stockings (now the Cincinnati Reds)
- Hartford Dark Blues
- Louisville Grays
- Mutual of New York
- Philadelphia Athletics
- St. Louis Brown Stockings (now the St. Louis Cardinals).
Similarly, when the American League was founded in 1901 prior to the first World Series in 1903, there were eight original teams:
- Baltimore Orioles
- Boston Americans (now the Boston Red Sox)
- Chicago White Sox
- Cleveland Blues (now the Cleveland Guardians)
- Detroit Tigers
- Milwaukee Brewers (now the Baltimore Orioles)
- Philadelphia Athletics
- Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins)