The U.S. is gearing up for the 2026 World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, and on Friday (July 17), the trophy reception ceremony took place at Trump Tower in New York. 

Donald Trump, with Gianni Infantino by his side, made a variety of comments regarding events that took place during the tournament. The U.S. president listened as Infantino praised the tournament with the line: “FIFA is the official purveyor of happiness for humanity.” “Unless your team loses,” was Trump’s comment.

He went on to say, “You don’t need compliments, but this World Cup wouldn’t have been such an incredible success without you. It’s the greatest social and cultural event humanity has ever seen.”

Trump then took the floor and commented, “I thought we weren’t a soccer nation, but it turns out we are, and I believe we’ll remain one.”

The U.S. president described Cristiano Ronaldo as a “great guy,” while regarding Harry Kane, he said: “I played golf with him, and he’s a great guy.”

However, he also took a few jabs at Thomas Tuchel following England’s loss to Argentina in the tournament’s semifinal: “Maybe they made a mistake when they played him as a defender (i.e., Kane). But then again, what do I know about soccer? They took the lead, then took their best player and put him on defense. We have to be a little more aggressive, right? But what do I know about coaching? It was a little strange, though—but Harry’s a great guy.”

Trump also commented on Lionel Messi: “Messi was being marked closely, and suddenly he found himself on the right side, while the great player marking him just stood there. Messi passed the ball, and that was the end of the game. How good is Messi? He scored a hat trick. I think that’s something very rare in your sport, right?”

Trump also referred to the infamous incident involving the reversal of Balogun’s red card. “If Gianni hadn’t allowed Balogun to play, we would have said: ‘We would have won the match if we’d had our best player.’ Gianni made the right decision.”

*photo source: AP