Washington, D.C., is on the clock for the 2027 NFL draft, White House sources tell CBS News.
President Trump is expected to make the announcement Monday afternoon, with National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris in attendance.
The three-day 2027 event, in which NFL teams will select incoming rookies from that year’s class of prospects, will be planned for the National Mall. It will be the first time the event has been held there.
This year’s draft was held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, from April 24 through April 26, and the 2026 event is planned to take place in Pittsburgh.
Mr. Trump’s announcement comes after the Commanders and city officials announced plans to return the team to D.C.
Washington’s football team has played in suburban Maryland since 1997, but now plans to move to a new domed facility by 2030. The plan has not yet received required approval by the D.C. Council.
Mr. Trump has had a long, tumultuous relationship with the NFL. He owned the defunct United States Football League’s New Jersey Generals and led a suit against the NFL accusing it of monopoly. A jury in 1986 awarded the USFL $1, a total that grew to $3.76 with court fees and interest applied.
In 2014, Mr. Trump was one of three known finalists with bids to buy the Buffalo Bills. He wasn’t selected, and the finances behind his bid became a focus of testimony during Mr. Trump’s 2023 New York civil fraud trial.
During the first year of Mr. Trump’s first presidential term, in 2017, he encouraged NFL owners to punish players who protested during the national anthem. He claimed the league’s television ratings had gone down as a result of players kneeling during the song.
Mr. Trump also has close relationships with some NFL owners, including the New York Jets’ Woody Johnson, who served as ambassador to the U.K. during Mr. Trump’s first term.
Mr. Trump weighed in on this year’s draft as controversy swirled around prominent prospect Shedeur Sanders, who some had expected to be among the top picks. When the son of NFL legend Deion Sanders slid past the first round, the president called NFL owners “stupid” in a social media post, and said Sanders should have been picked “immediately.”
Sanders ended up being selected 144th by the Cleveland Browns, on the third day of the draft.
