{"id":3989,"date":"2026-07-07T20:42:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:42:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:42:54","slug":"the-world-cup-stood-as-a-break-from-u-s-politics-then-trump-got-involved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989","title":{"rendered":"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>By Luke Broadwater<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 For nearly a month, President Donald Trump had stayed away from the World Cup, not attending games and instead preoccupying himself with Washington construction projects and a war with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3987\">American men\u2019s soccer fails to make World Cup progress. What\u2019s next for the US?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But as the biggest sporting event on Earth enthralled Americans of all political stripes in cities stretching from coast to coast, the allure proved too much to resist.<\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s now famous \u2014 or infamous, depending on your view \u2014 phone call to the president of FIFA before the soccer organization overturned the suspension of an American star produced endless debate about political influence. It also generated locker room bulletin board material for Belgium, which handed the United States a humiliating 4-1 defeat Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>Belgium\u2019s team celebrated the victory by performing Trump\u2019s signature dance and posting a two-word message online: \u201cOverturn this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The unusual melding of politics and sports underscored a truism of the Trump era: The president has yet to find an area of American, or even global, life in which he is unwilling to assert himself. There are seemingly no previously apolitical events that can escape his pull.<\/p>\n<p>It is perhaps unsurprising that Trump, who loves both sports and the limelight, inserted himself in a situation in which previous U.S. presidents might have shown restraint. He has long attempted to capitalize politically on sports controversies. During his first term, he frequently criticized NFL players who knelt during the national anthem to protest racial injustice \u2014 a movement led by 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. He has openly boasted that he uses the issue of transgender athletes \u2014 with San Jose State as the center of debate \u2014 as a surefire political winner for Republicans around election time.<\/p>\n<p>And he has found in certain segments of the world of sports a base of support that has at times eluded him in other circles. After Trump was ostracized from social media platforms and by many in the business community after the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, he received a hero\u2019s welcome at a UFC event. In his second term, when Trump failed to win a Nobel Peace Prize, Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, awarded the U.S. president a newly created \u201cFIFA Peace Prize.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete,\u201d Trump said Monday. \u201cAnd I understand sports really well. Really well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The president has also shown little regard for the appearance of improper influence that might have kept his predecessors at bay. So when he saw what he called a \u201cvery unfair\u201d red card against American player Folarin Balogun in the team\u2019s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, he reached out to Infantino and made a remarkable request that FIFA review the suspension.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3985\">Every city you can fly to nonstop out of Mineta San Jose International Airport<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Infantino has insisted that the later reinstatement of Balogun was a result of \u201cthe legal process involving FIFA\u2019s independent judicial bodies.\u201d But it was the first time since 1962, when the rules were less clear, that FIFA had overturned an in-tournament World Cup game suspension.<\/p>\n<p>The incident was a reminder of how far Trump has departed from the practice of one of the predecessors he admires, President Calvin Coolidge, who famously quipped, \u201cPerhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trump instead has inserted himself into nearly every aspect of American life, no matter how big or small. He has sought to pressure colleges and universities on how to run their institutions. He has targeted law firms and taken ownership shares in American companies. He has taken control of important cultural and artistic organizations. And he has put himself at the center of America\u2019s 250th anniversary celebration.<\/p>\n<p>He has also concerned himself with matters as small as the composition of drinking straws and the water pressure in toilets. And, of course, rule changes in football.<\/p>\n<p>But it was his involvement in the other kind of football that sparked global backlash.<\/p>\n<p>The Union of European Football Associations, the governing body of soccer in Europe, said that FIFA\u2019s decision to overturn Balogun\u2019s suspension \u201ccrossed a red line.\u201d The Bosnian soccer association accused Trump of \u201cgovernment interference.\u201d All of which could make for an awkward situation with Trump set to hand out the trophy to the eventual winner.<\/p>\n<p>And Iran\u2019s soccer federation, with its country still at war with the United States after Trump launched thousands of airstrikes, took a special joy in the American defeat at the hands \u2014 or feet \u2014 of Belgium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow the whole world is dancing to celebrate politics\u2019 humiliating defeat by football,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3983\">Nick Rossi, Jazzopaters ready to deal the Ellingtonia in Stanford, S.F.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared in The New York Times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI\u2019m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete,\u201d Trump said Monday. \u201cAnd I understand sports really well. Really well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved. - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved. - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cI\u2019m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete,\u201d Trump said Monday. \u201cAnd I understand sports really well. Really well.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T20:42:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T20:42:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989\"},\"wordCount\":834,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989\",\"name\":\"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved. - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T20:42:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=3989#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved. - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved. - Next City Digest","og_description":"\u201cI\u2019m a person that loves sports and was a good athlete,\u201d Trump said Monday. \u201cAnd I understand sports really well. Really well.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-07-07T20:42:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved.","datePublished":"2026-07-07T20:42:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989"},"wordCount":834,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989","name":"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved. - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-07T20:42:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4e24f2475a30cc55e82caf0c4c0e3cb2.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3989#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The World Cup Stood as a Break From U.S. Politics. Then Trump Got Involved."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}