EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — President Donald Trump’s World Cup ended with something he likely loved: being showered in gold.
Trump appeared to shake off FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he lingered onstage after presenting Spain their second World Cup trophy ever. Trump stood next to the team as they lifted the trophy and cannons of gold confetti shot in the air. Infantino ushered Trump further from the team as they celebrated, putting the FIFA head and the president directly in the path of the flittering confetti.
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President Donald Trump smiles as confetti rains down on the field after the final World Cup match on Sunday. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
Trump was loudly booed as he entered the field after the match, waving to people as he made his way to the stage. He received a more mixed response when he was briefly shown on the big screen in the stadium after the national anthem. The reflective glass of his box made it difficult to see the president on screen.
Trump had long viewed the tournament as one of the signature events of his term: a chance to showcase his version of the United States to the world, in the middle of a summer that also included America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Throughout the game, Fox aired commercials promoting the upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an auto race around national monuments that the White House is promoting.
The hosting of the World Cup was awarded to the U.S., Canada and Mexico during Trump’s first term. It arrived eight years later as the largest version of the tournament ever staged — a 48-team, 104-match spectacle stretching nearly six weeks and carrying a global audience measured in the billions.
“It turns out we are a soccer country,” Trump said in an interview ahead of the game with Fox. “We’re a football country, we don’t want to get it confused. But I don’t think there’s anything like what’s happened with the World Cup.”
Trump appeared to enjoy interacting with the players as he presented them each with medals. He patted them and spoke with them, with the players often reciprocating.
President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino hand the World Cup trophy to Spain’s Rodri
(Hannah McKay/Reuters)
The World Cup was a family affair for the Trumps. Melania Trump was seated next to him in the box, and his extended family — including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump; Eric and Lara Trump; and Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos — were all in a box together in the stadium. Kushner was seen chatting with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos during the game.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sat in the box with Trump. Trump told reporters that he spoke to Carney about the need to stop wildfires. He said that Canada should “pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs.”
Before the game he spoke about his friendship with Javier Milei, the president of Argentina who opted not to attend the game due to superstitions because he watched the prior seven games at home. Trump declined to take a side, but he said he would not bet against veteran player Lionel Messi.
“I would say Spain played better, really, but they both played well,” Trump told reporters after the game, which he called a “close match.” He said he congratulated Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on the victory.
Though Sunday marked the first match he attended, the specter of Trump has hung over this World Cup since long before he took his seat Sunday.
Though the U.S. was only one of three host countries, sharing the tournament with Canada and Mexico, Trump has often been the leader most eager to thrust himself into its spotlight, and his administration had been visible throughout the tournament. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin represented the government at the Americans’ opener against Paraguay. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick attended the U.S. match against Bosnia, and second lady Usha Vance was at the Americans’ group-stage finale against Turkey.
Trump’s most direct involvement came after Folarin Balogun, the Americans’ leading scorer, was shown a red card in the U.S. team’s round-of-32 win over Bosnia. Balogun was due to miss the next match, a high-stakes meeting with Belgium, before FIFA made the surprising decision to suspend the automatic one-game ban for a one-year probationary period.
The decision came after Trump spoke directly with Infantino and urged him to review the play. Trump later said he did not ask Infantino to produce a specific outcome. “I didn’t tell him what to do,” Trump said, adding that it would have been a “stain” on the tournament if Balogun had been forced to sit out.
Source:washingtonpost.com/