President of the United States Donald Trump FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he made the right decision by suspending the red card shown to U.S. forward Folarin Balogun ahead of the U.S.’s last-16 match against Belgium. fifa world cupThe U.S. team ultimately lost 4-1 in this game.Trump made the remarks at a reception at Trump Tower ahead of Friday’s FIFA Council meeting, two days before Sunday’s World Cup final.Loudspeakers played Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless America” as Trump and Infantino took to the stage. The two stood on the podium for more than two minutes and did not start speaking until the song ended.Both men spoke of the success of the tournament, highlighting attendance and television ratings. Infantino thanked Trump for his support in hosting the event.“You staged the greatest human social and cultural event that humanity has ever witnessed,” Infantino said.In his speech, Trump once again mentioned what he called the “stolen” 2020 US presidential election, after making unsubstantiated claims that China interfered in the election in a televised speech.“I said, you know, I shouldn’t be here right now. I should be president for eight years,” Trump said, referring to the fact that he would be gone before the 2026 World Cup if he wins the 2020 election.“The polls showed it. Everybody showed it. They rigged the election. What did I get? I got the World Cup. I got the Olympics. I brought them here.”Trump then turned his attention to the disciplinary case against the U.S. men’s national team and Balogun.“You have memorable moments, and probably the most memorable is when they gave that gentleman [a red card],” Trump said.“I was forced to call Gianni and make a suggestion. I said, Jenny, I want to make a suggestion. Let the guy compete. No, I didn’t say that. I said, I want to complain. The truth is, I had no idea what was going to happen. “Balogun’s one-game suspension was lifted before the match against Belgium, allowing him to compete, although the United States was eliminated after losing 4-1.Trump said the result removed any debate over whether the suspension affected the outcome.“You know, it’s a lot better … because there’s no controversy,” he said.“They won the game and our team had all the players. Think about it, if he didn’t allow him, they would have said, ‘If we had the best players, we would win the game.'” So Gianni made another of his many smart decisions. “As the event drew to a close, Trump said he hoped the United States could host another World Cup in the future.“This time we are excluding Mexico and Canada,” he said, drawing laughter from those attending the reception.
