Trump to attend Fifa Club World Cup final between PSG and Chelsea
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Mr Donald Trump has kept the Club World Cup trophy next to his desk in the Oval Office since Fifa president Gianni Infantino dropped by in March.
PHOTO: AFP
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BEDMINSTER, United States – President Donald Trump will on July 13 showcase his unexpected attachment to a sport in which “America First” remains a dream, for now.
He is attending the final of the newly expanded Fifa Club World Cup in his latest use of the beautiful game as a soft-power political weapon.
His appearance at MetLife stadium in New Jersey, where Paris Saint-Germain face Chelsea, is very much a trial run for the World Cup final, which will take place in the same stadium in 2026
Mr Trump has made it clear he sees both tournaments, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as showpieces for what he calls the “Golden Age of America” during his second term.
His close friendship with Fifa president Gianni Infantino, a frequent visitor to the White House, is a factor in his appearance.
Mr Trump has kept the Club World Cup trophy next to his desk in the Oval Office since Mr Infantino dropped by in March.
But Mr Trump’s embrace of football is also personal.
His 19-year-old son Barron is a fan, as Mr Infantino pointed out in a press conference at Fifa’s new office in Trump Tower in New York on July 12.
Asked if Mr Trump likes the game, Mr Infantino replied: “Well I think he does. In his first term as president of the United States, there was a (football) goal in the garden of the White House.
“He explained to me that his son loved football, and that he loved the game. And of course when you are a parent, you love what your children love, so I think that he loves it.”
As a student at the New York Military Academy, Mr Trump reportedly played the game for a season.
His 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.
Mr Trump pointed out when Mr Infantino visited the White House in March that the US won the right to host the 2026 World Cup in 2018, during his first term as president.
He said he was “so sad” 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 proved more successful than its critics predicted, with around 2.5 million people attending games across the country and some gripping games.
Mr Infantino, who is no stranger to dealing with hard-nosed leaders around the world, thanked Mr Trump for his support on July 12.
He said Mr Trump “embraced immediately the importance of the Fifa Club World Cup, and of course of the World Cup next year”.
Mr Infantino joked that Mr Trump “certainly loves as well the trophy” – whose gold-plated curves match the gilded makeover that the President has given the Oval Office.
But in typical form, Mr Trump has 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: “Could a woman make your team, fellas?“
Most of the players looked bemused before Juventus general manager Damien Comolli replied: “We have a very good women’s team.”
Mr Trump said: “He’s being very diplomatic.”
His hardline immigration crackdown
In May, Vice-President J.D. Vance said 2026 World Cup fans were “welcome to come... but when the time is up, they will have to go home”. AFP
