The Morning: Why Trump is changing so many names
Good morning. Here's the latest:
More news is below. But first, we explore Trump's renaming spree.
What's in a name?
President Trump, perhaps seeking to divert attention from the Jeffrey Epstein saga, last weekend lobbed an out-of-nowhere demand: The Washington Commanders and the Cleveland Guardians must restore the racist team names and logos they discarded years ago. It was both an attempt to change the conversation and a rallying cry to the right. Trump loves to rename things — military bases and ships, a mountain, a body of water. It's often part of his Great Unwokening quest. But it's also a way he asserts power, an expression of his belief in the potency of branding and a nod to how nostalgia shapes his political project. "This is about turning back the clock," said Paul Lukas, a journalist and author who writes about consumer culture and who for 25 years ran a website focused on sports uniforms and logos. "He has this vision of a world and an America where things were the way they were supposed to be, and two of those things were these two team names." Today's newsletter is about how Trump reopens seemingly settled questions, including ones about team names, years after the controversy around them has ended. Brand TrumpThe president's record as a businessman is checkered, but his knack for brand-building is beyond doubt. He started renaming things in his real estate days, plastering his own name on buildings he bought. And in politics, it's all about MAGA, always with the red hat. The spinoff brands — Make America Healthy Again, Make America Beautiful Again — only highlight the ubiquity of the original.
Upon Trump's second inauguration, he changed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and restored the name of President William McKinley to the tallest mountain in Alaska. He also ordered the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to rechristen "our national treasures" to "honor the contributions of visionary and patriotic Americans in our nation's rich past." That past is a particular fixation. In June, Trump said he would restore the names of Confederate generals to seven military bases that had dropped them. Meanwhile, his Navy is reviewing ships named for civil rights heroes including Harvey Milk, Thurgood Marshall, Harriet Tubman and Cesar Chavez. Brand attentionAmid all this, Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, tried sarcasm, introducing an amendment this past spring to rename Earth as Planet Trump. And this week, Stephen Colbert sardonically suggested the capital's football team be called the Washington Epsteins. Trump threatened to block the team's bid to build a new stadium in Washington unless it brings back the Redskins name, which the team dropped in 2020. He has no formal role in the stadium decision; in December, Congress gave Washington, D.C., full control of the land. There is a federal commission, half of its members appointed by Trump, that will review the design.
The president said people were clamoring for a return to the Redskins. In fact, a Washington Post poll in May showed that half of Washington-area adults liked or loved the team's new name, up from 34 percent a year ago. Nine percent said they hated it. As usual with the president, the demand was not so much about the Washington football brand as his own brand. "All these stunts are promotions, if you will, to get attention, which is part of his brand," says Jim Stengel, the former chief marketing officer of Procter & Gamble. "And to get attention about something that is part of his brand, which is contrarian." 'Frame warfare'The power to rename things is the power to define reality, argues Jennifer Mercieca, a Texas A&M communications professor who wrote a book about Trump's rhetorical style. It goes hand in hand with Trump's assertions that are not backed by evidence or fly in the face of it. Remember "alternative facts"? Redefinitions of reality have been central to his success. Mercieca calls it "frame warfare." What you call a thing determines the contours of the debate around it — or precludes debate altogether. Did you borrow a car without permission, or did you steal it? Was the crush of migrants at the Mexican border an invasion or a humanitarian crisis? All politicians try to play the frame game. Trump is a master at it.
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Apology: Pat McAfee, a sports analyst, apologized to an Ole Miss student months after amplifying an unsubstantiated rumor about her romantic life that forced her to switch to online classes and move out of her dorm. Collectibles: Michael Jordan's rise coincided with a huge trading card boom. As a result, there might be more Jordan cards than those of any other athlete. What are the cards worth today?
Alex Marshall, a culture reporter for The Times who is based in London, boarded a train as soon as he heard Ozzy Osbourne was dead. He wanted to report on how people were reacting in Birmingham, England, the singer's hometown. Arriving around midnight, Alex wandered across a dark Birmingham, talking to heavy metal fans who were paying their respects to Osbourne. "Most were in shock because he meant an awful lot to them," he said. "Some struggled to hold back tears." He talked to a Mexican couple who had disrupted a vacation to be there. He listened to a woman sing Ozzy karaoke at a pub. He also met Drake. Around 1:45 a.m., a fleet of blacked-out S.U.V.s pulled up to a bench in town that is dedicated to Black Sabbath. Soon, Alex found himself unexpectedly standing near one of the world's most famous rappers, who was in the city on tour. "He stood looking at the bench for quite some time and then poured some tequila on the ground," Alex said. Then, after chatting, he passed the bottle to Alex, who took a swig. "He lived hard," Drake said. "It reminds me if, like, God forbid, Snoop Dogg died," he added. "Ozzy has that vibe." Read Alex's dispatch from Birmingham.
Assemble this no-bake peaches and cream cake that's like a fruity tiramisù. Have a surreal encounter in the Berkshires. Use better dish soap.
Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was deductive. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Correction: Yesterday's newsletter described incorrectly Trump's tariffs on Japan. Japan does not pay them; importers buying Japanese goods pay them. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com.
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