US President Donald Trump examines a soccer as FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks on this undated picture. — AFP
Donald Trump will on Sunday showcase his sudden attachment to a sport by which “America First” stays a dream, for now.
The US president is attending the ultimate of the newly expanded FIFA Membership World Cup in his newest use of the attractive recreation as a delicate energy political weapon.
His look on the MetLife stadium in New Jersey, the place Paris Saint-Germain face Chelsea, could be very a lot a trial run for the World Cup remaining, which can happen in the identical stadium subsequent yr.
Trump has made it clear he sees each tournaments, in addition to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as showpieces for what he calls the “Golden Age of America” throughout his second time period.
The billionaire Republican’s shut friendship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a frequent customer to the White Home, can also be a think about his look.
Trump has stored the Membership World Cup trophy subsequent to his desk within the Oval Workplace since Infantino dropped by in March.
However Trump´s embrace of soccer, or soccer as he would say, can also be private.
The president´s 19-year-old son Barron is a fan, as Infantino identified in a press convention at FIFA’s new workplace in Trump Tower in New York on Saturday.
Requested if Trump preferred the sport, Infantino replied: “Well I think he does. In his first term as president of the United States there was a soccer goal in the garden of the White House.
“He then defined to me that his son beloved soccer, and that he beloved the sport. And naturally if you end up a dad or mum, you’re keen on what your youngsters love, so I feel that he loves it.”
As a student at the New York Military Academy, Trump himself also reportedly played the game for a season.
‘Go home’
Trump´s apparent fondness for football may seem unusual for a country where, despite growing popularity, the sport still lags behind American football, basketball and baseball.
The former reality TV star has, however, always had an eye for popularity, power and influence. And football in its own way brings all three.
Trump pointed out when Infantino visited the White House in March that the United States won the right to host the 2026 World Cup in 2018, during his first term as president.
He said he was “so unhappy” because he assumed he would not be president when the tournament came around — but his 2020 election loss meant that he would after all.
The FIFA Club World Cup has meanwhile proved more successful than its critics predicted, with around 2.5 million people attending games across the country and some gripping games.
Infantino, who is no stranger to dealing with hard-nosed leaders around the world, thanked Trump for his support on Saturday.
He said Trump “embraced instantly the significance of the FIFA Membership World Cup, and naturally of the World Cup subsequent yr.”
Infantino also joked that Trump “actually loves as nicely the trophy” — whose gold-plated curves match the gilded makeover that the president has given the Oval Office.
But in typical form Trump has also mixed political controversy with his football fandom.
Hosting Italian side Juventus in the Oval Office in June, he delivered a diatribe on transgender people in sports before asking the players: “May a girl make your workforce, fellas?”
Most of the players looked bemused before Juventus general manager Damien Comolli replied: “We’ve an excellent ladies´s workforce.”
“He is being very diplomatic,” said Trump.
Trump´s hardline immigration crackdown — part of his “America First” policy — has meanwhile sparked fears that football fans will be discouraged from coming to the United States.
In May, Vice President JD Vance said that 2026 World Cup fans were “welcome to come back… however when the time is up they should go dwelling.”
