Politics & Stuff

[robsblubot 3,566]

4 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

Isnt  that exactly how the USA was 'discovered' 'founded' ?

Yes, but I think the point here is that what worked back then may not necessarily work now.

[Fulham Broadway 16,966]

5 hours ago, YorkshireBlue said:

idn’t make it right then either, but looking at history and using that as an excuse for modern day behaviour is a non argument, we don’t stone people in the street any more, burn girls alive to test if they are witch’s etc 

 

2 hours ago, robsblubot said:

Yes, but I think the point here is that what worked back then may not necessarily work now.

Thing is the article was a comedy satire, not meant to be taken seriously. Yorkshire, you copied and pasted half a sentence just to make a point about immigrants, when the article was a piss take about him saying God has given him a right to do what he wants 🤣

[YorkshireBlue 3,132]

2 hours ago, Fulham Broadway said:

 

Thing is the article was a comedy satire, not meant to be taken seriously. Yorkshire, you copied and pasted half a sentence just to make a point about immigrants, when the article was a piss take about him saying God has given him a right to do what he wants 🤣

I knew it was a joke bud, but that particular point is constantly talked about 

[Vesper 29,171]

Trump and Infantino: Two presidents and a sporting political bromance that isn’t slowing down

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6085431/2025/01/24/trump-infantino-fifa-world-cup/

President Donald Trump has long had a tendency to namecheck high-profile figures in concise terms of affection or derision. It is clear how much he likes allies such as UFC president Dana White and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, and how much he dislikes others — his White House successor/predecessor Joe Biden and California’s governor Gavin Newsom included.

Add soccer’s most powerful statesman to the bromance list.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has been singled out repeatedly by Trump as he has retaken office, with a new eagerness to celebrate the 2026 men’s World Cup coming to North America. He attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday and has this week posted nine times about the new U.S. president on Instagram, even wearing a red tie to Sunday’s pre-inauguration rally.

Infantino’s support crystallized in early 2020, when Trump, in the final year of his first term as president, was faced with the United States Senate laying its ground rules for his initial impeachment trial.

Back then, while introducing him to a dinner of CEOs in the Swiss ski resort Davos, Infantino lauded Trump as a “sportsman” and a “competitor.”

This week, Infantino was rewarded for his unstinting loyalty. Inauguration invites are largely for family members, administration officials, Supreme Court Justices, other world leaders and the inbound president’s most trusted associates.

Representing sports, Infantino was joined by staunch Trump supporters including White and Miriam Adelson, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and the incoming president’s third-largest campaign donor. In a statement, FIFA said neither “FIFA nor the FIFA President contributed to the Inauguration Committee.”

As for that 2026 World Cup, Trump has taken a cheerleading role, touting it as an example of significant events coming to the United States in the next few years. But it is potentially awkward.

As soccer’s worldwide governing body, FIFA represents 211 national associations. The U.S. will co-host the tournament with Mexico and Canada, both neighbouring countries Trump has threatened with hefty import tariffs.

During the inauguration, Infantino was filmed laughing animatedly as Trump stated that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America.

---

With Trump and Infantino, it may be a special relationship — or, as FIFA pointed out Thursday, consistent with the FIFA head regularly accepting invitations from world leaders. 

FIFA staged its men’s World Cup in Russia in 2018, despite Vladimir Putin’s first incursions into Ukraine four years earlier. Then in 2019, Putin awarded Infantino the Order of Friendship for his “enormous contribution” to that tournament.

 

Infantino receives the ‘Order of Friendship’ from Putin in May 2019 (Evgenia Novozhenina/AFP via Getty Images)

Ahead of the 2022 edition in Qatar, Infantino wrote to the 32 competing federations and implored them to “focus on the football” and avoid political and social disputes such as labour conditions for migrant workers and the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community. He also made multiple visits to 2034 World Cup host Saudi Arabia as the Gulf country became the sole option for that edition.

But even for a sports leader reliant on political diplomacy, Infantino’s bond with Trump appears unusually close.

In some respects, Trump’s level of engagement may be a positive for FIFA. Infantino visited Washington last May but was not granted photo opportunities or meetings with Biden or Vice-President Kamala Harris. He did, however, meet the homeland security secretary to discuss visas.

FIFA had been struggling to make progress with Biden’s administration on the speed of visa processing, raising concerns that visitors from some of the 2026 World Cup’s 48 competing nations may be unable to attend.

As of Thursday evening, wait times for a visitor visa appointment at a U.S. embassy in Bogota, Colombia, were 700 days. With the World Cup 500 days away next week, some supporters would already be too late. Other concerning wait times include Casablanca (Morocco, 332 days) and Ankara (Turkey, 560 days).

As Trump pursues deportation policies, it remains to be seen how willing his administration is going to be to swing open the doors for the six weeks of the tournament, particularly if that means facilitating thousands of Central and South American visitors.

Contrasted with Russia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, FIFA may have hoped a World Cup held across the U.S., Canada and Mexico would have fewer public relations headaches, with the added boon of $14billion (£11.3bn) in projected revenues.

 

Infantino and Trump in the White House’s Oval Office in 2018 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

However, the shared nature of 2026 presents challenges, and Trump’s policies could test FIFA’s ability to manage relationships.

FIFA has a four-year agreement with the World Health Organisation (WHO) “to promote healthy lifestyles and equal access to health services worldwide”. Trump has this week withdrawn his country from the WHO.

In his first week back in office, Trump described Mexican cartels as foreign terror organizations and replied “could happen” when asked if he would send U.S. special-forces troops to Mexico to target them. He has also warned his administration will impose 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, starting February 1.

Addressing the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Trump told Canada it could avoid tariffs by becoming a U.S. state.

And that’s all before we get onto the president of Panama, a contender to compete at next year’s  World Cup, being asked this week if he worries about the possibility of the U.S. invading his country, or possible tensions with Denmark over Greenland’s future.

---

The closeness between the Trump family and Infantino originated in Trump’s first term, when the so-called ‘United bid’ defeated Morocco for 2026 World Cup hosting rights. During and after that process, Infantino visited the White House three times, golfed with Trump in New Jersey and lunched with him at the 2020 World Economic Forum.

There was a need for personal involvement by Trump, most notably in providing federal guarantees essential to the hosting requirements of a showpiece global event: FIFA requires visa access for competing players, staff from federations and fans who may wish to visit.

Trump’s presidential guarantees — albeit not binding — were an important signal of intent during a presidency in which he’d signed an executive order banning foreign nationals from several predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States for 90 days. FIFA also required assurances regarding certain tax exemptions.

The touchpoint for all of this became Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. When Trump left office, Kushner remained a go-to contact for Infantino, organizing a lunch of New York City business and political leaders to help swing the World Cup final to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, a few miles from Manhattan.

 

Infantino visited Trump at the White House in 2019 (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In Davos, as Trump dismissed the 2020 charges against him (abuse of power and obstruction of Congress) as a “total hoax” — he was acquitted weeks later — he was introduced for his own speech by Infantino.

“President Trump is definitely a sportsman,” Infantino gushed. “I am lucky enough in my life to come across some of the most talented athletes in soccer. And President Trump is made of the same sort of fibre. He is a competitor. He wants to compete, he wants to win. He wants to show who is the best.”

Now, Infantino’s ongoing support appears to have put him in a prized position within Trump’s circle of trust.

It wasn’t just an inauguration ticket. Infantino had almost a week of cosying up to the incoming administration. He visited Trump at the latter’s Florida home Mar-a-Lago last Friday, revealing on Instagram that the meeting centred on the World Cup, plus this summer’s U.S.-hosted Club World Cup.

On the day Infantino donned his red tie and attended Trump’s rally, the Swiss soccer executive got publicly name-checked (although Trump initially appeared to mix him up with the president of the International Olympic Committee). After Trump’s mention, Infantino posted a video thanking him.

In a FIFA press release, Infantino said: “I would like to thank President Trump, with whom I have a great friendship, and to assure him that, together, we will make not only America great again, but also the entire world, of course, because football — or soccer — unites the world.”

 

Trump gave a recorded video address at the Club World Cup draw in December (Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images)

It is just the latest episode of recent bonhomie.

At December’s draw for the group phase of the Club World Cup draw, Trump delivered a recorded video address, described Infantino as a “winner” and claimed he (Trump) was “very responsible” in bringing the World Cup to North America. Trump’s daughter Ivanka, Kushner and grandson Theodore all attended the event in Miami, with the latter even making the draw’s ceremonial first pick.

While Trump trumpets the World Cup, one obscured aspect is how, as previously revealed by The Athletic, those behind the 2026 bid actively downplayed concerns about his rhetoric.

Where once they attempted to persuade voters he did not reflect the bid, or he did not mean exactly what he said, or to reassure them it was unlikely he would be president in 2026, now he feels very much front and centre.

---

Infantino will surely hope the closeness, and Trump’s positive attention, lasts through the tournament.

As the president’s second term began, Infantino was once again mentioned by Trump at Davos.

On Thursday, he said: “Here in America, we have big events coming up. Next year we have the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. We also have the World Cup, and I understand Gianni — Gianni is in the room — Infantino. He was very instrumental in helping us get it — he’s there with you someplace, I think — and I want to thank him for that.”

And by that night, Infantino was back on Instagram, saying “Thank you, Mr. President” and, repeating once again, that #footballunitestheworld — as soccer’s political bromance continued at full speed.

Edited 6 hours ago by Vesper

[Vesper 29,171]