President Donald Trump is set to present the World Cup trophy to the winner of Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain, putting him in the most visible role at the end of the tournament. Trump said on Friday that the event had turned the United States into a soccer country and that it would stay that way.
He made those remarks at a FIFA reception at Trump Tower in New York City, where he also said the World Cup had brought the world together. That line landed with extra force because the tournament has also been shaped by the politics around it, from visa denials to fears over immigration enforcement that never materialized near the games.
The search around whether Trump will attend the World Cup final now centers on a narrower answer: he is already set to be there in the ceremonial sense, even if his exact appearance is still the open question. What is clear is that he has tied himself closely to the final and to FIFA, after calling chief Gianni Infantino earlier this month to ask for a review of a controversial referee call in Team USA’s match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
That call had gone against Folarin Balogun, who received a red card before FIFA reversed the decision. Trump later told Infantino at Friday’s reception that he had made another great decision, a remark that sounded less like casual praise than a confirmation that the White House wanted a say in how the tournament’s defining moments were judged.
The administration’s public message has been that the tournament brings people together. Andrew Giuliani said it had a duty to ask questions and raise concerns about the officiating process, while the president’s own remarks leaned into the same theme of unity. Yet the backdrop has not been clean. The administration faced scrutiny over visa decisions, including the denial of entry to a referee from Somalia who had won accolades for his officiating, and some fans and supporting personnel from Iran were barred from the United States while the Iranian team was based across the border in Tijuana.
There was also the broader friction of a tournament that required heavy logistical management from the White House and the host countries of Canada and Mexico. Even so, the final frame of the story is simple: Trump has placed himself at the center of Sunday’s closing act, and the only thing left unresolved is whether he shows up in person or remains the man handing over the trophy from a carefully chosen stage.
