In March of last year, shortly into his second term, US President Donald Trump issued executive order 14234, which established a World Cup task force housed within the Department of Homeland Security. Trump is its chair, vice-president JD Vance is vice-chair, and other members include a chunk of Trump’s cabinet secretaries. Andrew Giuliani, son of the former mayor of New York, is its executive director. The group claims responsibility for the planning, organisation and execution of what it calls “the largest sporting event in the history of mankind”, “an important event, taking place during the momentous occasion of the 250th anniversary of our country” and “an opportunity to showcase the nation’s pride and hospitality”.
Trump has apparently taken to football (soccer, that is) lately. He bobbed alongside Fifa president Gianni Infantino and Chelsea players when they lifted their Club World Cup trophy in New Jersey last summer. Infantino later awarded Trump, openly desirous of a Nobel Peace Prize, an invented “Fifa Peace Prize” at the World Cup draw in Washington DC in December. “Objectively, he deserves it,” Infantino told Sky News.
And this February, in his State of the Union address, Trump proudly claimed credit for the US hosting both the World Cup and 2028’s summer Olympics. “I was disappointed because I didn’t think I’d be the president when this happened,” he told the assembled legislators and dignitaries. “But strange things took place, and now I’ve got them.”