Trump threatens to strip American city of World Cup games amid bitter feud with liberal mayor
Donald Trump has threatened to relocate World Cup matches set to be played in suburban Boston next year, after suggesting that parts of the city had been ‘taken over’ by unrest.
Foxborough, Massachusetts, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots and about 30 miles from Boston, is set to stage matches as the US cohosts the 2026 World Cup with Mexico and Canada.
On Tuesday, Trump was asked about Boston’s mayor, Michelle Wu, a Democrat whom he called ‘intelligent’ but ‘radical left.’
‘We could take them away,’ Trump said of the World Cup games. ‘I love the people of Boston and I know the games are sold out. But your mayor is not good.’
He suggested ‘they’re taking over parts of Boston’ without offering details, but added ‘we could get them back in about two seconds.’
The Trump administration has already deployed National Guard troops to Washington and Memphis, and efforts to do so in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have sparked legal fights.
Donald Trump has threatened to relocate World Cup matches set to be played in Boston
Trump suggested that parts of Mayor Michelle Wu’s city had been ‘taken over’ by unrest
Wu’s office did not immediately respond to a message from the Associated Press seeking comment.
Trump’s comments came during his meeting with Argentina President Javier Milei and it wasn’t immediately clear what he was referring to by parts of Boston having been seized.
Earlier this month, however, there were multiple arrests in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest that turned violent on Boston Common. Four police officers were injured.
Trump has previously suggested he could declare cities ‘not safe’ for the 104-game soccer tournament and alter a detailed hosting plan that FIFA confirmed in 2022.
It includes games at NFL stadiums near New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Gillette Stadium, home to the NFL’s New England Patriots, will host games in the tournament
World Cup host sites aren’t up to Trump, however. The 11 US cities – plus three in Mexico and two in Canada – are contracted with FIFA, which would face significant logistical and legal issues to make changes in the eight months before the June 11 kickoff.
‘It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,’ the soccer body’s vice president Victor Montagliani said earlier this month at a sports business conference in London.
Trump nonetheless said, ‘If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni – the head of FIFA who´s phenomenal – and I would say, “Let’s move into another location” and they would do that.’
The president meant FIFA head Gianni Infantino, a close ally. Trump said Infantino ‘wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily.’
