Trump and Infantino kick off the MAGA World Cup with December draw slated for DC

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The Make America Great Again World Cup, also known as the 2026 World Cup, will begin June 11 in Mexico City, but it really began Friday at the White House.

It began with U.S. President Donald Trump discussing wars and tariffs, Vladimir Putin and crime, his border wall and the Epstein files, and the 2026 World Cup draw, which will take place Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

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Trump announced the draw’s date and location, then made it very clear that this World Cup will be his.

Behind him stood Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, the global soccer governing body that is, or should be, in charge of the World Cup. Infantino could have made this announcement himself, at a news conference or on Instagram, anytime, anywhere.

But he ceded the stage — and handed the World Cup trophy — to Trump.

Trump, sitting at his desk in the Oval Office, wearing a red hat that screamed “TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!”, read from a script.

Then, in less than a minute, he deviated. He suggested that the Kennedy Center, a revered performing arts venue and cultural center in D.C., could be called the “Trump Kennedy Center” in “a week or so.”

Trump attended the Kennedy Center, which will host the World Cup draw, for an event last week. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

From there, he pivoted to his federal takeover of D.C. police. He called the capital city a “crime-infested rat hole,” despite data showing that D.C. crime declined in 2024 and 2025 prior to the takeover. He accused the news media of being “dishonest.” Then, back to the script.

He went on like this for nearly an hour. He pivoted from the projected economic impact of the World Cup to the economic impact of his tariffs. He belittled the 2026 World Cup’s co-hosts, Canada and Mexico, saying that he, personally, “let them have a little piece” of the tournament. (Each will host 13 games, while the U.S. hosts 78.)

He let Infantino, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speak, briefly. But before Infantino could present him with a ceremonial ticket to the World Cup final, Trump cut Infantino off and ranted again about D.C. crime.

Then he transitioned to border security. He later spoke about the black paint on his border wall. “It’s gonna be very hard to climb that sucker,” Trump said.

Then, back to crime. After D.C., Trump said, he’d send the National Guard to other cities. “Chicago’s a mess,” he said, as Infantino looked toward the floor. “That’ll be our next one after this.” He also mentioned New York.

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He talked about “doing great with the Black vote.” And then, oh, yeah, back to the World Cup. Trump said he’d “roll out the red carpet” for Infantino and FIFA in early December for the draw. That, of course, is why Infantino will give Trump the stage.

And Trump, it seems, will use the stage however he pleases.

On Friday, he also used it to send a message to Putin, whom he met in Alaska last week to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine. (The negotiations ended without a resolution.) Trump pulled up a photo of himself and Putin, said that Putin wanted to attend the 2026 World Cup final, and concluded: “Depending on what happens, he may be coming, and he may not.”

Infantino used the occasion to promote the start of ticket sales in September. Noem, whose department is partially responsible for ensuring fans can travel to the U.S. for the tournament, said that “we’ll make sure they get their travel documents, their visas”; but later, when a reporter asked about concerns over visa wait times and rejections, Trump took the question. For people from “certain countries,” he said, traveling to the World Cup will “be very, very easy. And other countries are gonna be, obviously, a little bit more difficult.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has made several visits to the Trump White House.(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Trump then took questions for almost 30 minutes, and, of course, very few were about the World Cup.

He was asked about the war in Ukraine. He was asked about Israeli hostages and Gaza.

He was asked about the trade war with Canada. “Look,” Trump said, “I’m fighting for the United States.”

He was asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files. (He brushed it off; “the whole Epstein thing is a democrat hoax,” he said.)

He was asked about the FBI’s search of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton’s home. (Trump called Bolton “a sleazebag.”)

He was actually asked about the economic impact of the World Cup, and about his message to the mayors of host cities. “Well, Los Angeles is an example, it’s poorly run,” he began. He never spoke about the economic impact. He did call California Governor Gavin Newsom “an incompetent guy, with a good line of bulls***.”

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“And let me tell you, if I didn’t send in the troops,” Trump said, referencing his deployment of the military to Los Angeles to quell protests in June, “Gianni wouldn’t be in Los Angeles, you wouldn’t be having your World Cup there.”

This is what Infantino has signed up for. This is what he’s signed the World Cup up for. There will, eventually, be national teams drawn from pots, and players competing on fields. But there will also be politics and MAGA propaganda.

Infantino said Trump was the first person to lift the World Cup trophy since Lionel Messi in 2022. (ANP via Getty Images)

On Friday, there was talk about gun laws. “I’m a second amendment person,” Trump said. There was a mention of Lionel Messi, but only in that he was the last person to lift the World Cup trophy before Trump held it. There was talk of declaring a national emergency to justify Trump’s D.C. takeover. There was talk of soldiers getting their “head blown off.” There was a tangent about the conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where “people were getting their heads chopped off.”

This, in theory, could have been an announcement about soccer — or football, or fútbol, or whatever you choose to call it. The World Cup draw could have been in Las Vegas, and it would’ve been a show, but it could’ve been an apolitical one.

Instead, it is in Trump’s hands. In fact, he spoke as if Infantino never had control in the first place.

“I said, ‘Gianni, do [the announcement] by phone, you don’t have to come,’” Trump said. “He said, ‘No, I’ll come, I’ll come.’ And he flew all night long to be here, and listen to this about how great we’re doing in D.C.”

(Top photo: Annabelle Gordon / UPI / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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