President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to relocate FIFA 2026 World Cup matches in U.S. cities deemed unsafe.
“If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup or for the Olympics, you know, where they have Olympic overthrow, right? But for the World Cup in particular, because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it to go to, we’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen,” Trump said Friday during a press gaggle in the Oval Office.
The president first told a reporter that the World Cup would be “very secure.” But he later suggested he could strip host cities of matches after being asked whether games might be moved if cities like Seattle and San Francisco “don’t cooperate with your crime initiative and your immigration initiatives.”
“Well, that’s an interesting suggestion, I guess. But we’re going to make sure they’re safe,” Trump said.
“If I think it isn’t safe, we’ll move it into a different city, absolutely,” he said. “It’s actually a very fair question. If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out of that city.”
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell ripped Trump’s “ignorance” and said Seattle was “working every day to make the World Cup a safe, welcoming, and fun experience.”
The Trump administration sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles in early June after days of protests over immigration raids.
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