WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is talking about putting his foot down.
While watching the FIFA Club World Cup final match July 13, he told streaming channel DAZN TV he was considering issuing an executive order to change the name of the sport in the U.S. from “soccer” to “football,” as it called around the rest of the world.
“I think we can do that, I think I could do that,” Trump said with a laugh for the interview published July 14.
“They call it ‘football,’ but I guess we call it ‘soccer,’ but that change could be made very easily,” Trump added. “But it’s great to watch.”
Trump is no stranger to name changes, having already ordered the government to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, and then pressured private mapmakers to follow suit.
The sport is widely called football in Europe and around much of the world, while the United States, Canada and Australia refer to it as soccer.
Pointedly calling the sport soccer has long been a prominent symbol of defiance for American national teams and their supporters. U.S. fans chanted “it’s called soccer” at a game against England during the World Cup in 2022.
Trump, a former owner of the New Jersey Generals in the U.S. Football League in the 1980s, has promoted the sport that might formerly be known as soccer because the United States will co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada next year.
The championship will be played in the same place, New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0.
Trump was seated at the game next to Gianni Infantino, the president of the Federation Internationale de Football Association. Fans booed Trump when he appeared briefly on the jumbotron during the national anthem and when he posed with match referees during the trophy ceremony.
Trump handed Chelsea their trophy and stood in the middle of the players for their team photo and celebration.
“I knew he was going to be there, but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy, so I was a bit confused,” said Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer, who scored two goals during the match.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump considers changing the name ‘soccer’ to ‘football’
