January 20 – On Monday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino will attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as president of the United States in Washington DC, the football boss confirmed on his Instagram page.
Infantino, posing on social media with thumbs up and a red tie, said that he is in the US capital to witness Trump’s second inauguration – as the 47th president of the United States – saying Trump has been “very supportive of FIFA”.
The United States will co-host the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada. This summer, the Americans welcome FIFA’s expanded 32-team Club World Cup.
The previous US administration led by Joe Biden froze Infantino out of the White House, but Infantino, who now lives with his family in Miami, is keener than ever to return.
In the lead-up to Trump’s inauguration, Infantino also visited the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago. At the reopening of the Notre Dame in December, Infantino also met with Trump and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world who will serve in Trump’s administration. Musk is known for his far-right opinions and for spreading misinformation via his social media platform X.
Infantino and Trump have long maintained a relationship. At the draw of the Club World Cup last year, Trump complimented Infantino in a prerecorded address: “I will try and be there if I can, I would. We’ll see what happens. But I just want to say you’re led by a man named Gianni. I just know him as Gianni and he’s a winner and he’s the president, and I’m the president. And we’ve known each other a long time, and I’m so honored to have this kind of a relationship because soccer is going through the roof. As everybody knows, it’s been doing fantastically well.”
During his first presidency, Trump invited Infantino to the White House various times. They also shared the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2020. Infantino was one of the first sporting officials to congratulate Trump on his re-election – hours before the result was confirmed. Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football and a mining magnate, is also in DC.
The current FIFA boss has a liking for authoritarian heads of state. Vladimir Putin awarded him with the Order of Friendship medal and he is frequently seen by the side of Mohammed Bin Salman, the autocratic leader of Saudi Arabia.
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