US President Donald Trump on Sunday will attend the FIFA Club World Cup final, a match that will offer Trump a preview of the globe’s premier soccer tournament that North America will host next year.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump will travel from their golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to East Rutherford 40 miles (64 kilometers) away to watch the final match of the US-hosted tournament between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea at MetLife Stadium.
Trump’s trip Sunday falls on the first anniversary of the assassination attempt he survived in Butler, Pennsylvania, while campaigning for president.
The president did not have any public plans to mark the date beyond participating in a taped Fox News Channel interview with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump that aired Saturday night.
‘Golden Age of America’
His appearance at the MetLife stadium in New Jersey, where Paris Saint-Germain face Chelsea, is very much a trial run for the World Cup final, which will take place in the same stadium next year.
Trump has made it clear he sees both tournaments, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as showpieces for what he calls the “Golden Age of America” during his second term.
The billionaire Republican’s close friendship with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a frequent visitor to the White House, is also a factor in his appearance, an AFP report said.
Trump has kept the Club World Cup trophy next to his desk in the Oval Office since Infantino dropped by in March. But Trump’s embrace of football, or soccer as he would say, is also personal.
Trump’s past trips to sporting events
Sporting events have made up the bulk of Trump’s trips in the US since taking office this year. In addition to his visit this weekend to the soccer tournament, he’s attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, New Jersey, and the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia.
The president has said he plans to attend multiple matches of the World Cup tournament next year.
The president’s 19-year-old son Barron is a fan, as Infantino pointed out in a press conference at FIFA’s new office in Trump Tower in New York on Saturday.
Asked if Trump liked the game, Infantino replied: “Well I think he does. In his first term as president of the United States there was a soccer goal in the garden of the White House.