Trump celebrates the World Cup as a US victory
President Donald Trump presented the FIFA World Cup trophy to Spain, the winner of the final against Argentina. However, according to him, the real winner of football’s premier tournament may be the USA.
“It turns out we are a football nation, and I think it will remain that way,” Trump said at a FIFA reception at Trump Tower in New York City on Friday.
“This really brought the world together.”
For the White House, Sunday’s game was the culmination of more than a year of logistical challenges, with Canada and Mexico hosting the biggest World Cup in history.
The Trump administration needed to balance strict immigration policies that banned fans from some countries participating in World Cup qualifiers from entering the United States.
Spain won the tournament by beating reigning champion Argentina 1-0.
After Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino presented them with the trophy, Trump stood next to the team, which was jumping up and down and gold confetti was flying out of a cannon.
Speaking to reporters later at Joint Base Andrews, Trump stated that he was proud of the country’s success as a host and said, “people have come from all over the world and they love our country.”
He arrived at Sunday’s finale by flying over the presidential helicopter, Marine One. Before the match even started, Trump nudged Infantino by suggesting that the United States make another bid to host the tournament.
“I had a great idea for Gianni: You should do two countries. Next time, announce us again and then announce another country. That will take away some of the anger and shock,” Trump said on Fox Sports. he said.
“We will immediately request again based on the numbers.”
Trump stirred controversy earlier this month with a phone call to Infantino in which he asked for an investigation into a controversial referee call during Team USA’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The referee gave star US forward Folarin Balogun a red card, meaning he could not play in the next match against Belgium.
Trump said that he asked Infantino, who was close to the US president and faced reactions for doing so, to review the call, but FIFA later rejected this call.
The Trump administration has been under serious pressure to deliver a successful World Cup tournament because the United States will soon host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
