President Donald Trump on Monday defended his controversial phone call to FIFA president Gianni Infantino that led to the soccer association reversing a one-game World Cup suspension of U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun.
President Trump referred to the referee giving Balogun a red card in last week’s victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, saying, “I didn’t think it was a foul, so I asked for a review.”
“I didn’t know what the heck a red card was,” Trump told reporters at the White House, attending an Oval Office event touting the launch of the Trump Account, an investment vehicle for children.
The card resulted in Balogun’s ejection from the game, and the 25-year-old is banned from Monday night’s game between the United States and Belgium.
On July 1, 2026, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 match between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in Santa Clara, California, No. 20 Folarin Balogun of the United States committed a foul on No. 4 Tarik Muharemovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was later reviewed by VAR and determined to be a red card foul.
Michael Steele | Getty Images
But FIFA on Sunday suspended the suspension and allowed Balogun to play in Monday night’s final match against Belgium in Seattle.
“I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do,” Trump said of his phone call with Infantino. “And I don’t believe he made the decision.”
In a statement released by FIFA regarding
“Yes, I regularly discuss issues related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States. In this regard, I received a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, soccer officials, and business executives around the world on a variety of issues,” Infantino said.
“During our conversation, Infantino explained that legal proceedings involving FIFA’s independent judiciary are ongoing and that the matter will be decided by the appropriate competent authority,” Infantino said. “This is how the FIFA system works and this is the principle I always follow.
“When the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee come out, I read them. Sometimes I am surprised by the decisions. Sometimes I agree with them, sometimes I do not agree with them,” he said. “But what I always do is respect the autonomy of those decisions and the organizations that make them, whether we personally like the decisions or not.
President Trump said if Balogun’s suspension for the game against Belgium had been upheld, “win or lose, this game will have a huge impact.”
“If they beat us, they’d be really proud,” Trump said of Belgium.
