World Cup Issues: Trump threats
Next year, the 2026 World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
US President Donald Trump shocked the whole world when he told reporters that they are considering removing some cities from hosting the tournament due to safety concerns.
In a speech from the Oval Office of the White House, Trump first said that he guaranteed that the World Cup would be “very safe,” but then added that he would intervene and change some host cities.
Reporters say that Seattle and San Francisco were mentioned, which will host six matches each, and the leaders of these two cities oppose Donald Trump’s migration policy.
A reporter asked the US president what he would do if these cities “do not cooperate” with the administration?
“Okay, that’s an interesting question, but first we have to make sure that (those cities) are safe. They are run by radical left-wing lunatics who don’t know what they are doing.”
Lumen Field will host four group stage matches at the World Cup, including the second match of the US national team on June 19, 2026.
This stadium in Seattle will also host one match in the round of 16 and one in the round of 16.
Levi’s Stadium, located in Santa Clara, about 30 kilometers from San Francisco, will host five group matches and one match in the round of 16.
FIFA announced the 2025 World Cup schedule and host cities in February.
Each of the 11 cities in the United States is preparing to meet the criteria required by the World Cup.
In addition to Seattle and San Francisco, the World Cup will also be hosted by Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Miami, New York/New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
Mexico will host Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, and Vancouver and Toronto in Canada.
Donald Trump is not legally allowed to move World Cup matches from one city to another.
But he has a direct line to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, with whom he has become close friends.
FIFA has contracts with these cities, some of which are already seeing record demand for tickets, and FIFA “will not have the right to simply terminate the contract,”
but generally, FIFA is given broad powers and protection from any legal claims if it terminates or breaches a contract.
The Trump administration recently allocated $625 million in federal funds for World Cup security.
Those funds will be distributed proportionally, rather than equally, among the 11 host cities, based on their needs.
The cities will submit their own costs and compensation requests, according to Andrew Giuliani, the head of the White House World Cup task force.
It is unclear whether Trump, who chairs the task force, could potentially cut some of those funds.
The draw for the World Cup groups will be held on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Donald Trump said on Thursday that the latest crime statistics in Washington revealed that there is “no crime.”
In August of this year, Trump said that some cities like Chicago were unsafe but would be safe for the World Cup. “If I don’t think it’s safe, we’ll absolutely move to another city. That’s very fair. If I don’t think it’s safe, we’ll move out of that city.”
Earlier this summer, United States President Donald Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent him a joint photo from a summit held in Alaska,
and hinted that Putin might attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
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