U.S. President Donald Trump said his trade disputes with Mexico and Canada would be good for the 2026 World Cup co-hosted with those two nations as he signed an executive order to create a task force to assist in organizing the tournament.
“Tension is a good thing,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding he believed it would make the competition “much more exciting.”
Trump was joined by Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, who said the event would draw “millions of people” and create 200,000 jobs with an economic impact of $40 billion between now and next year’s event.
The executive order is expected to establish a panel chaired by the president to run logistics around hosting the tournament. The move comes as Trump is ramping up a trade war with Mexico and Canada — both top U.S. trading partners — as part of a broad second-term agenda that aims to reshape the U.S .government and its economic and security ties with other nations.
“We’re going to be establishing a task force, a very important task force — White House — and that’s on the FIFA World Cup of 2026 which, as you know, is a big event,” Trump said, adding that he planned to attend some of the matches. “It’s going to be the biggest event,” he added.
Infantino cast the event as similar to holding multiple Super Bowls for days, a comparison Trump hailed.
“I love what he said, like three Super Bowls a day for a month,” Trump said.
The tournament offers a prime showcase to a president who has increasingly attended star-studded sporting events to promote his political message and expand his appeal, and has relished connections with prominent athletes.
Trump has long had a relationship with Infantino, with the executive attending the president’s January inauguration. Trump also played a role in his first term to help the U.S. secure hosting rights, writing letters that sought to assuage concerns by FIFA and nations, including reportedly over visa policies and travel restrictions.
The tournament has only been held in the US once before — in 1994 — and is only the second time that the World Cup is being held in more than one country, following Japan and South Korea co-hosting the event in 2002.
While the contest — which will include 48 teams in a new expanded format — will span three countries, most of the host cities and matches will be in the U.S., including the final at MetLife Stadium outside New York City, Trump’s birthplace. The US, Canada and Mexico have all automatically qualified for the tournament as its hosts.
Akayla Gardner, Bloomberg News
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