Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever suggested that President Donald Trump might take the U.S. defeat of Belgium “very hard,” while joking that he would not be the one to speak when the two meet.
Speaking to the Flemish public broadcasting organization VRT News, De Wever said that congratulations for Belgium’s victory had been the first thing people mentioned to him at the NATO meeting in Ankara, Turkey.
“Everyone is talking about one thing, and that is congratulations for a well-deserved victory for the Red Devils,” he said. “Of course, there is also a defeated party. That also happens to be the biggest ally in NATO.”
When asked if he was worried that Trump might be upset by the result, De Wever laughed that the president “has a tendency to sometimes react angrily to things he doesn’t like, and I think this defeat will be bad.”
Still, De Wever said he has no plans to jab Trump. “I’m not going to start about it myself,” he said. “But if he were to say something about it, then I’ll see what that is and how I can react.”
The exchange comes after the White House made an extraordinary effort to get American forward Folarin Balogun to qualify for the playoff against Belgium.
After Balogun was shown a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina, TrumpHis personal name is FIFA President Gianni Infantinowhile senior officials of the Trump administration and US Soccer filed a lawsuit with FIFA to overturn the one-match ban.
FIFA eventually overturned the ban, allowing Balogun to play – an unusual move that prompted the Belgian Football Association.explore legal optionsand prompted criticism from European football’s governing body UEFA over the perceived influence of political influence on the ostensibly independent disciplinary process. Belgium eventually won however on Monday in grand fashion, knocking off the US
Executive Director of the White House World Cup Task Force Andrew Giuliani congratulated the US team despite the 4-1 defeat.
“Obviously it was disappointing the way the American team played last night,” Giuliani said on Fox News. “But … at the end of this match they all got together afterwards, thanked the fans and prayed together. I think that shows the character of these men. To go through a time like that in their career and do that – it’s a great group of men.”
Giuliani also defended the administration’s involvement in the Balogun case, saying that Trump’s intervention was aimed at ensuring balance rather than influencing the outcome.
“There’s a lot of politics in football. When you think about all the money and power on the line, there can be more politics in the world of football than there is in Washington, DC,” Giuliani said. “President Trump is focused on making sure everything is right in terms of everything that happens at the ballot box or anything that happens on the field, and that’s why he’s been the best leader in this incredible World Cup.”
Emilio Perez Ibarguen contributed to this report.
