Football World Cup: Trump threatens cities to postpone games

There are still 241 days until the ball will roll for the first time at the largest soccer World Cup to date. For the first time, 48 teams will play for the soccer crown in the title fights in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

The perfect opportunity for US President Donald Trump to put himself in the limelight. At the Club World Cup, Fifa boss Gianni Infantino left Trump to hand over the trophy – and the US President stayed on the winner’s podium longer than he wanted.

Nine months before the opening game kicks off, Trump is now using the World Cup as a means of putting pressure on unwelcome cities. He could use his connections with Gianni Infantino and move the games to other cities. “He wouldn’t like it, but he would do it easily,” Trump claimed on Tuesday (local time) in the White House. The eleven US host cities for the 2026 World Cup are Seattle, San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Los AngelesKansas City, Miami, New York/New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Trump once again alluded to the alleged rampant crime in some cities governed by Democrats. “If someone is doing a bad job and I feel like there are unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni,” Trump said. In recent months, the US President has repeatedly cited the allegedly unsafe situation in large cities as a reason for sending the National Guard. In many cases, however, court rulings prohibited the deployment because there was no evidence of any uprising.

One of the cities Trump has his eye on is Boston. In the city, police officers were recently attacked and a police car set on fire during a so-called “street takeover.” A “street takeover” is a nighttime gathering of large groups that perform illegal car stunts. However, they are not said to have any political affinity. But Trump used the incident in Boston to attack Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu. “She’s doing a bad job and is a radical leftist,” Trump said. The “demonstrators had taken over a large part of the city,” he claimed.

In September, Trump claimed that the two World Cup host cities, Seattle and San Francisco, were “run by radical left-wing lunatics who have no idea what they’re doing.” What Trump didn’t take into account, however, is that the stadiums in Boston and San Francisco are not in the big cities, but far outside. The stadium in Foxborough is around 50 kilometers from Boston, and the arena in Santa Clara is almost 70 kilometers from San Francisco.

Donald Trump is said to have a very good connection with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. The Swiss has already visited the Oval Office several times, presenting trophies from the Club World Cup and the upcoming World Cup. FIFA has also moved into an office in Trump Tower in New York for World Cup preparations. Infantino was even seen at Trump’s side at the signing ceremony for the peace declaration in the Middle East. The Egyptian newspaper “Al-Masri al-Jum” described the Swiss as the “strangest” guest at the summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, which was attended by numerous heads of state and government such as Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

It is questionable whether Trump can simply change venues like that. The contracts were already signed during Trump’s first term in office in 2018, and a change would mean significant intervention. Victor Montagliani, president of the North American soccer association Concacaf and vice president of FIFA, has at least already rejected the plans. “With all due respect to the current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will outlast their regimes, their governments and their slogans,” Montagliani said. It is FIFA’s tournament, it is under FIFA’s jurisdiction and the world association would make these decisions, emphasized the Canadian.

Donald Trump also has his eye on the second major sporting event of his term in office: the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He could have the venue moved if, in his opinion, the city “is not adequately prepared,” said the Republican. This would probably require a different procedure than when re-allocating World Cup games, “but we would do it.” Los Angeles was the first major city where the US President sent the National Guard and US Marines in June after protests against the ICE immigration agency.