Trump scores own-goal as World Cup overflows with politics
Trump at FIFA World Cup TOI correspondent from Washington Spain won the World Cup but Donald Trump nearly stole the moment of glory.For a few
Trump at FIFA World Cup TOI correspondent from Washington Spain won the World Cup but Donald Trump nearly stole the moment of glory.For a few awkward seconds after Spain defeated Argentina to capture football's biggest prize, the victorious Spaniards found themselves sharing the podium with an American president who remained planted centre stage like an enthusiastic wedding guest who has wandered into the family photograph and refuses to take the hint.The cue to leave eventually came from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who, with the delicate touch of a maître d' telling a late diner it’s closing time, gently shepherded Trump away from the celebrating players.Trump's exit, as natural for him as conceding an election, was an appropriately surreal finale to a tournament over which the US President hovered like an VAR review. Earlier, as he strode onto the field for the trophy presentation, many of the 80,000-plus spectators greeted him with lusty boos, though supporters generated enough cheers to produce something closer to surround sound than consensus.There was delicious irony in the final result too. The man who has spent weeks describing Spain as "hopeless" suddenly found himself handing the World Cup to...
Spain. Only days after verbally slide-tackling Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over Nato spending, Trump had to congratulate the Spanish leader after La Roja's triumph, perhaps the fastest recorded transition from geopolitical sniping to sportsmanship since Henry Kissinger discovered table tennis ahead of a China outreach.Of course, had Argentina won, the political script would have read differently. Argentine President Javier Milei, Trump's ideological soulmate and favourite chainsaw-wielding libertarian, skipped the final because of a superstition that watching from anywhere other than home would jinx the Albiceleste.Even Lionel Messi couldn't dribble past that curse. Instead, socialist Spain prevailed over libertarian Argentina, giving the global left bragging rights in football after the global right enjoyed the spectacle of a Trump-hosted cage fight that passes off as sport.The VIP suite itself resembled a G-7 summit with better snacks. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sat alongside Trump despite relations remaining frosty after months of tariff threats and border disputes. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was there too, though Trump reportedly found time between crosses and corners to suggest Canada might compensate America for wildfire smoke -- or perhaps pay in tariffs.Because nothing says "the beautiful game" quite like discussing ugly trade disputes during injury time.
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