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President Donald Trump was booed as he waved to the crowd at the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday, July 13
Trump fueled another awkward moment at the tournament when he stood front and center as the winning team, Chelsea, celebrated the championship and received their trophy
Cole Palmer, who scored two of Chelsea’s three goals, said he was “a bit confused” by Trump’s decision to pose with the team after presenting their trophy
President Donald Trump was met with a less than enthusiastic response from some fans at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The president’s presence drew an unhappy response from the crowd gathered at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, July 13, where Trump joined FIFA president Gianni Infantino on the pitch for the awards ceremony. The championship saw Chelsea defeat Paris Saint-Germain, 3-0.
According to the White House pool report, Trump and Infantino walked onto the pitch, where Trump waved to the crowd as boos erupted around the stadium. When the pair appeared on the jumbotron, the report stated, they “were booed again. There was also some applause, whistling and cheering. The music in the stadium then drowned the boos.”
Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu/Getty
Melania and Donald Trump, and Gianni Infantino and his wife Leena Al Ashqar.
The crowd’s reaction to Trump wasn’t his only awkward moment of the match. When Chelsea was presented the FIFA trophy, Trump stood front and center — right in front of Cole Palmer, the team’s star player who made two of the team’s three goals in the game.
Though Infantino encouraged Trump to step aside to let the team celebrate in the spotlight, the president stayed put.
“I was a bit confused,” Palmer said afterwards, according to a post on X from The Athletic. “I knew he was going to be there, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand where we lifted the trophy.”
During the celebration, according to Time, Chelsea’s captain Reece James appeared to ask Trump, “Are you going to leave?”
“They told me that he (Trump) was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage,” James told The Athletic. “I thought he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay. And that probably highlights how big the tournament is.”
Eventually, Infantino was able to persuade Trump to leave the team to their celebration, and walked the president to the back.
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After the game, the New York Post reported that Trump was enthused by a reporter’s suggestion that he sign an executive order for soccer to be called football in America, as the rest of the world calls it. “I think we could do that,” he told DAZN.
The U.S. is set to host the FIFA World Cup final in 2026, also at MetLife Stadium.
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