July 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday told FIFA officials they should pick the United States to host another World Cup, so long as they don’t include Canada or Mexico.
“You should choose the United States of America again,” Trump said during a FIFA World Cup reception at Trump Tower in New York, Politico reported. “This time we will leave Canada and Mexico out.”
The next World Cup, in 2030, will be co-hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain, followed by Saudi Arabia in 2034.
FIFA has not yet selected a host for the 2038 tournament.
Trump added FIFA should “pick somebody else for the next one and that will take some of the anger, hatred and steam out of everyone,” Politico reported.
Trump has close ties to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The president earlier this month said he spoke with Infantino to ask for a reversal of a red card suspension to U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun.
After Trump’s call, FIFA followed suit and allowed Balogun to play in the following match against Belgium.
“You made another great decision,” Trump told Infantino of the reversal on Friday. “You’ll never get credit for that.”
It made no difference: the U.S. soccer team was eliminated in a 4-1 loss to Belgium.
The World Cup comes to a close on Sunday. Trump said he would be present for the final match between Spain and Argentina.
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