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Donald Trump took his place at the World Cup final at the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday.
Trump arrived at the stadium on Marine One, with the president’s helicopter first flying over the stadium around 45 minutes before kickoff. There was little reaction from the crowd as the aircraft flew over the stadium, with Marine One landing nearby a few minutes later. The president was seated in a glassed-in section of luxury seats on the west side of the stadium shortly before kickoff, along with the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino. Other dignitaries and former players sat nearby, including Spain’s king, Felipe VI, Canada prime minister Mark Carney and Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump was briefly shown on the video screens at the stadium after the US national anthem was played. There were scattered boos from some in the crowd but nothing like the hostile reception he has received at other sporting events during his presidency.
Trump has made several appearances at sporting events since his reelection. Last year, he attended the Super Bowl, tennis’s US Open, the Daytona 500 and golf’s Ryder Cup. This year, he has attended several golf events, college football’s national championship game and Game 3 of the NBA finals, where he was met with boos from the New York Knicks home crowd.
Trump’s appearance was the first time he has attended a match at this summer’s World Cup, which the have US co-hosted along with Canada and Mexico. He was also due to present the trophy to the winner of the match between Spain and Argentina. He was seen touching the trophy from his seat in the early stages of the match.
At the 2022 World Cup final, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, joined Infantino to award the trophy to Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates. Vladimir Putin awarded it to Kylian Mbappé and France after their win at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Trump is the first sitting US president to attend a World Cup final on home soil. When the US hosted the tournament in 1994, Trump’s predecessor Bill Clinton did not attend the game. The trophy was instead presented by Clinton’s vice-president, Al Gore.
Trump was front and center for the final of last summer’s Club World Cup at the same stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, presenting the trophy to champions Chelsea and drawing loud boos from the crowd.
Trump has a close relationship with Infantino, and called the Fifa president to lobby for a review of USA star Folarin Balogun’s controversial red-card suspension before their last-16 match. Fifa did reverse Balogun’s ban, but the political circus cast a pall over the US team, who exited a promising World Cup with defeat to Belgium.
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