Article by Aurelian Botezatu – Published on Thursday, 16 October 2025, 08:51 / Updated on Thursday, 16 October 2025 08:52
US President Donald Trump has again threatened to change some of the host cities of the 2026 World Cup “if they don't do their job”.
“Republican” Donald Trump has a thing with the “Democratic” cities of the USA, the ones that were hostile to him in the presidential election. And he threatened again that, “if they don't do their job,” he would ask FIFA to strip them of their status as host cities for the 2026 World Cup and replace them with others.
Donald Trump: “I would call Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, who is phenomenal”
“If someone is doing a bad job and if I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, who is phenomenal, and I would say: «Let's move everything to another location». And he would do that. He would hate to do it, but he would do it very easily. They would and now is the right time to do it,” says Trump: “I could say the same thing about the Olympics. If I came to the conclusion that Los Angeles is not properly prepared, I would move the Olympics to another location.”
Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino, the presidents of the USA and FIFA, put on a show in the Oval Office with the World Cup. Here presenting the entrance ticket / Photo: Imago
Victor Montagliani, FIFA vice-president: “Football will always survive the regime, the government and their slogans”
If Infantino refrained from commenting on Trump's claims, the Canadian vice-president of the world forum, Victor Montagliani, promptly set him straight. “Fifa makes these decisions. With all due respect to the current world leaders, football is bigger than them and football will always survive the regime, the government and their slogans“, said Montagliani.
FIFA could face multimillion-pound compensation claims from affected cities if they lose the matches they have committed to host.
At the World Cup, which it organizes together with Mexico and Canada, the United States counts the most host cities: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas-City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco.
Gianni Infantino has already pleased Donald Trump
Trump has threatened to replace the cities of San Francisco, Seattle and Boston, and when he claims that Infantino would please him, he also relies on the fact that the Swiss has already granted him a request in this regard.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup final tournament, scheduled for December 5 in Las Vegas, has been moved to Washington DC at the request of the US president!
