Trump tweets that the Cowboys will keep standing for the anthem after he spoke to the owner

President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that the Dallas Cowboys will stand for the national anthem, after having a conversation with the team's owner, Jerry Jones.

"Spoke to Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday, Trump tweeted. "Jerry is a winner who knows how to get things done. Players will stand for Country!"

Previously, Trump had suggested that NFL owners should fire any athlete who "disrespects the flag" by kneeling during the anthem.

On Tuesday, Trump bashed the NFL for its low ratings, and praised the Dallas Cowboys for kneeling before the anthem but standing up during it. Trump called the display "big progress."

The NFL has played the national anthem before games for decades, but it wasn't until 2009 that it started playing the song with the players on the field.

In 2016, Colin Kaepernick, a quarterback who at the time was playing for the San Francisco 49ers, protested police treatment of minorities by sitting during the anthem. The move divided and politicized the NFL. The controversy had mostly faded from conversation this season as Kaepernick has been without a team, but it flared back up after Trump spoke out against players who did not stand for the anthem.