Donald Trump has once again made a major sporting event all about himself — this time by keeping the official Club World Cup trophy and a winner’s medal, while the actual champions were handed a replica.
Chelsea FC beat Paris Saint-Germain 3–0 in the final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, but it wasn’t their name in the headlines — it was Trump’s.
The president joined the trophy presentation uninvited and stayed on stage while the team celebrated, refusing to step aside. “They told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage, and I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay,” said Chelsea captain Reece James, according to PA Media.
Adding insult to awkwardness, Trump later admitted that the trophy James lifted wasn’t the real one.
“They [FIFA] said: ‘Could you hold this trophy for a little while?’ We put it in the Oval Office and then I said: ‘When are you going to pick up the trophy,’ and [FIFA President Gianni Infantino] said: ‘We’re never going to pick it up, you can have it forever in the Oval Office,’” Trump told DAZN during the match.
“And they actually made a new one [for Chelsea] but right now [the original] is in the Oval,” he added in an interview with reporter Emily Austin.
Trump also kept one of the winner’s medals, taking it for himself.
Star player Cole Palmer — who scored twice and was named the tournament’s best player — said Trump’s presence during the celebration was confusing and unexpected. The team was clearly caught off guard by his decision to stay on stage.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has visited Washington ten times this year and recently moved the organization’s New York staff into Trump Tower, a move that raised eyebrows given FIFA’s supposed neutrality. Infantino has called proximity to Trump “absolutely crucial” to the success of the 2026 World Cup, which will be partly hosted in the U.S.
Trump watched the final from the stands alongside Infantino and Melania Trump. Even after being booed by the crowd before kickoff, he stayed front and center during the celebration.
In classic Trump fashion, he even floated the idea of signing an executive order to officially rename the sport from “soccer” to “football” in the U.S.
Chelsea may have won the Club World Cup — but the trophy, the medal, and the spotlight ended up in the Oval Office.
