EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey – President Donald Trump was shoulder-to-shoulder with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during the FIFA World Cup finals in New Jersey – but his eyes were elsewhere.
Throughout the afternoon on Sunday, the president attracted FIFA President Gianni Infantino instead of gathering world leaders, emphasizing the close relationship between the president and the head of world football. Infantino answered Trump’s call about the red card of American striker Folarin Balogun and appears to have a permanent invitation to the Oval Office.
This is the second time the three North American leaders have been seen together, and while it wasn’t exactly animosity, it wasn’t a warm embrace.
Maybe Carney and Sheinbaum are okay with that considering that when Trump spoke to Carney it was to tell him to control the Canadian wildfires.
“I told him you have to stop these fires from coming in and poisoning the air,” Trump told reporters after the game at MetLife Stadium. “Maybe they should pay us some damages or something.”
On Monday, Trumpimposed a 50 percent tariff on some Canadian goodswith the duties – which will apply to everything from wine and honey to clothing, fishing rods, jewelery and furniture – set to come into effect on August 19.
Tensions are also high between the US and Mexico after two CIA agents were killed in a car accident in Mexico this spring and the US indicted 10 current and former Mexican officials, including members of Sheinbaum’s political party.
Mexico also last week filed a criminal complaint over the deaths of some of its citizens in ICE custody or as part of immigration enforcement operations.
When the trophy presentation began, Trump entered the arena with Infantino, with Carney and Sheinbaum close behind. As the players gathered to receive their medals, Trump spent much of the ceremony chatting with Infantino, who stood to his right, instead of Carney and Sheinbaum to his left.
After Spain lifted the trophy, Trump and Infantino sat together off camera for about five minutes, watching the celebrations before walking off the field side by side.
Optics revealed a wider reality.
Since returning to office, Trump has made sports the centerpiece of his term, with Infantino a favored international ally. The head of FIFA has met with Trump more than any other international leader. “No other president in history could have undone the historic step that President Trump made for the American people and the world,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement that did not name Canada or Mexico.
The World Cup final also marked the beginning of the end for the White House task force established by Trump to oversee the tournament.
Andrew Giuliani, who has led the agency’s efforts for the past year, said the agencies have been instructed to begin preparing lessons learned from the tournament to help prepare for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the 2031 Women’s World Cup and the 2034 Winter Olympics — what he calls “America’s golden age of sports.”
“We don’t want to spend a lot of time sitting on the sidelines here because we want things to be fresh,” Giuliani said in an interview before the final.
Among the biggest takeaways, Giuliani said, was proving that the United States can balance security and welcome millions of international visitors.
“The United States can achieve that balance of making sure that we host a safe event, without allowing bad actors into our country while also making sure we can open our doors to the fans and the world,” he said.
As the task force dwindles, Giuliani’s own future remains uncertain.
Asked if he might move to another role within the Trump administration — from helping with the Republican midterm convention to an embassy or other sports-related portfolio — Giuliani said he planned to introduce himself to his family first.
But he made it clear that he would welcome another job from the president.
“I love this president,” Giuliani said. “I look forward to future conversations with him and his senior staff and his Cabinet, and in any way that I can help support this America First vision … I would be happy to consider it.”
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