Trump Takes Center Stage at World Cup Draw

President Donald Trump was at his merry, free-wheeling best on Friday. 

Amid a slew of bad headlines, poor polling numbers, and questions about his stamina, Trump got to have the kind of day he’s always been best at having: a fun one. 

“You look at what has happened to football in the United States, soccer in the United States, we seem to never call it that…we should call it football,” Trump said with a laugh at Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington, DC. Flanked on stage by Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump reached his hand into a clear, waterless fish bowl on the stage at the Kennedy Center and fished out a white ping-pong ball. 

“This is shocking,” Trump said with a smirk. Inside the prop was a scrap of black fabric with three letters printed in white: “USA.” It was a big day in DC for Trump. Amid a flurry of snow and freezing temperatures that greeted hundreds of employees and press members queued at 6am in the dead of winter, the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw got underway a little after noon in the significantly renovated Kennedy Center.  

Forty-eight teams from around the globe will participate in the largest version of the World Cup in history and the games are scheduled to be played in joint sites across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. A message shared by the Department of State in anticipation of Friday’s event stated the tournament will be “the greatest in history” and suggested the U.S. will welcome 10 million international visitors, create 200,000 American jobs, and generate $30 billion for the U.S. economy.

Speaking with reporters before the ceremony kicked off, Trump said he does not expect crime to be a problem in any of the American cities due to host matches. “If they do have a problem, by the time we get there we’ll take care of that problem,” Trump told the press. “I’ve proven that in DC and everywhere else we went so we’ll take care of that very easily. So, if they have a problem, hopefully they’ll let us know that and we’ll solve any problem.”

Friday was the first meeting between Trump and Sheinbaum since she was elected the 66th president of Mexico on October 1, 2024. Carney also attended the ceremony, providing an opportunity for Trump and Canada’s leader possibly to restart trade talks. Previous attempts were abruptly scuttled following the release of an anti-tariff ad featuring the words of President Ronald Reagan that was released in October by Canada’s most populous province of Ontario. That video convinced Trump to terminate talks.

But none of that mattered on Friday. The three leaders were spotted chatting amicably in Trump’s box during the second half of the two-hour ceremony. Friday’s celebrations were of a very different tone and tenor than the last time a World Cup draw was held in the U.S. That was in Las Vegas in 1993, and featured comedian Robin Williams poking fun at FIFA’s then-President Sepp Blatter, a notoriously tight-lipped figure. Friday’s gala was more muted, with Trump and friends receiving careful compliments from the current FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who won the gig after Blatter was impeached in 2015 over corruption scandals that temporarily stained the legacy of the tournament. 

Infantino has become fast friends with Trump since the president was reelected; the pair arrived at Friday’s ceremony together. After Trump helped broker the tenuous ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Infantino wrote on Instagram that Trump deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, an award Trump has eagerly sought. Despite Trump’s disputed claims that he has “ended eight wars,” the Nobel committee selected the Venezuelan activist María Corina Machado for this year’s top prize.

In response to Trump’s statements, Infantino created a FIFA Peace Prize in October and awarded Trump with the honor on Friday. Infantino’s whirlwind decision reportedly surprised FIFA board members and vice presidents, many of whom have already expressed concern about Infantino’s close relationship with Trump. At the beginning of the month, officials with Human Rights Watch questioned FIFA’s criteria for its “Peace Prize” but did not receive a response. 

On Friday, Trump beamed as Infantino awarded him with the inaugural medallion, which Trump proudly wrapped around his neck. “The FIFA Peace Prize is presented annually on behalf of the billions of football-loving people from around the world to a distinguished individual who exemplifies an unwavering commitment to advancing peace and unity throughout the world,” Infantino said. “We want to see unity. We want to see the future and I was lucky, Mr. President, to witness a few years ago the Abraham Accord signatures and a few months ago… the peace in the Middle East agreement regarding Gaza, I was in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur for the peace between Cambodia and Thailand, and yesterday, here, in Washington the Washington peace agreement between Rwanda and the DRC. This is what we want from a leader.” 

In conversation with reporters ahead of the draw, Trump downplayed the award, saying his main goal is to save lives. “I don’t need prizes,” Trump said. “I need to save lives. We’re saving a lot of lives. I’ve saved millions and millions of lives.”

Friday’s draw sorted all 48 teams into 12 brackets of four, with the United States drawing Australia, Paraguay, and the winner of a yet-to-be-played European playoff. 

Though the U.S. men’s soccer team remains a longshot to win the tournament, hosting the event is a great honor in and of itself. 

“The United States of America has never been more respected or successful than it is now under President Trump’s historic leadership,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle. “America is the hottest country in the world right now, which makes us the perfect country to host one of the greatest sporting events in history—the FIFA World Cup 2026.”