Donald Trump is facing a World Cup humiliation as viral chants tying him to Jeffrey Epstein spread through the tournament, casting doubt on whether he’ll even show up to matches or present the trophy at the final.
According to multiple reports, White House officials are increasingly worried about a growing phenomenon: World Cup fans chanting songs linking the president to his longtime association with Jeffrey Epstein.
What started as a few viral videos has reportedly turned into a recurring feature of the tournament, with supporters from England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand belting out anti-Trump chants in bars, fan zones, and even inside stadiums.
And unlike a hostile news conference or a critical newspaper article, tens of thousands of soccer fans chanting in unison is a lot harder to control.
“There isn’t a fan alive who doesn’t know how fragile Trump’s ego is,” one source reportedly said. “His staff are in crisis mode trying to prevent the president from being exposed to the chants in person.”
That’s a problem when your country is hosting the World Cup.
Trump has already become accustomed to receiving boos at major sporting events in the United States. But World Cup crowds are a different animal entirely. They don’t care about campaign talking points, White House messaging, or carefully crafted political narratives.
And they especially don’t care about protecting a politician’s feelings.
The chants focus on Trump’s well-documented friendship with Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
The relationship has been public knowledge for decades.
Trump and Epstein moved in the same elite social circles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. They were photographed together numerous times, and in a 2002 interview Trump famously described Epstein as a “terrific guy” who was “a lot of fun to be with.”
Trump has since attempted to distance himself from Epstein, insisting they had a falling out years before Epstein’s criminal convictions and saying he barred him from Mar-a-Lago.
But the issue has never fully disappeared.
The continued controversy surrounding Epstein-related documents and records has ensured that the story remains politically radioactive. While appearing in released files is not evidence of criminal wrongdoing, Trump’s past friendship with Epstein remains an easy target for critics—and apparently for soccer fans looking for a chant that gets under his skin.
The timing couldn’t be more awkward.
Just weeks before the tournament, FIFA president Gianni Infantino presented Trump with a so-called “Peace Prize,” praising his efforts to unite people and promote peace around the world.
Shortly afterward, Trump ordered military strikes against Iran.
So much for the optics.
Perhaps the most telling detail is Trump’s continued absence from the tournament itself.
Despite the United States hosting the World Cup, Trump has yet to attend a single match. Officially, aides cite scheduling conflicts. Unofficially, critics are beginning to wonder whether the prospect of becoming the target of tens of thousands of chanting fans has something to do with it.
Unlike campaign rallies, where attendance is carefully curated and supporters are screened, international soccer crowds are gloriously unpredictable.
They boo who they want. They sing what they want. And they are notoriously impossible to manage.
That reality is creating a unique challenge for a president who thrives on controlling the room.
As the tournament advances and knockout-stage crowds grow larger, the possibility of English-speaking teams making deep runs could create even more uncomfortable moments. Chants that might be ignored in one language become impossible to miss when they’re being sung in English by tens of thousands of fans—and instantly understood by American viewers watching at home.
For now, Trump remains largely absent from the spectacle, leaving administration officials to represent the White House at matches.
But if the chants continue spreading, the World Cup could become something Trump rarely experiences in public: A venue he can’t control.
