What Next - Are We Ready for the World Cup?
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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 January 2026
⏱️ 24 minutes
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Summary
When the US won a bid to co-host the World Cup, Trump was midway through his first term. Eight years later, he’s back in office, and giving soccer fans eager to watch the tournament this summer good reasons to squirm.
Guest: Jon Arnold, sports journalist and author of the Getting CONCACAFed substack.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's not exactly a secret that President Trump loves sports. |
| 0:11.1 | Trump has popped up at the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500. |
| 0:15.0 | He likes to say he could have gone pro in baseball. |
| 0:18.6 | Later this year, he is set to host a series of UFC fights on the White House |
| 0:22.7 | lawn. But I have a hot take, which is that if I had to pick one sport, the president is truly |
| 0:30.4 | commander-in-chief of. It would not be football or even golf. It would be soccer. |
| 0:41.1 | Yeah. or even golf. It would be soccer. John, how did soccer become Donald Trump's favorite sport? |
| 0:47.7 | It's interesting because Donald Trump actually has a history with soccer. |
| 0:51.8 | He did play the sport. |
| 0:54.1 | John Arnold is a sports journalist, specializes in soccer. He did play the sport. |
| 0:57.3 | John Arnold is a sports journalist, specializes in soccer. |
| 1:02.9 | But when we're talking about the modern edition, why does Donald Trump like soccer now? |
| 1:09.3 | It seems to me that it's because of part of the reason that I have to confess, I also like soccer. |
| 1:12.7 | It is one of the few places where you have the world coming together, and it feels important and it feels serious, but at the same time, |
| 1:19.9 | it's fun. I thought you were going to say FIFA gave you a world peace prize, too. No, not yet. |
| 1:24.9 | I mean, I do have space behind me on the shelf, but so far, no. |
| 1:29.5 | Is it as simple as, like, people like soccer, so Donald Trump also does? |
| 1:33.6 | I think people like soccer, so soccer matters to people, so Donald Trump feels like it must be |
| 1:40.6 | important. Maybe it's not that Donald Trump loves soccer so much, but that soccer loves him. |
| 1:48.2 | Or at least, the world governing body for soccer does. |
| 1:52.5 | FIFA has demonstrated their affection in the usual Trump-era ways. |
| 1:57.2 | They've let Trump keep one of their golden trophies in the Oval Office, for instance, |
... |
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