IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
President Trump is speaking out about the Folarin Balogun red card controversy and admits to speaking with FIFA President Gianni Infantino about the matter.
On Sunday, FIFA surprised the soccer world by announcing it would suspend Balogun’s one-game ban and allow him to play against Belgium after he received a red card in Team USA’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Initial reports revealed that Trump had called Infantino about reviewing Balogun’s red card ban.
President Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the red card suspension given to U.S. star Folarin Balogun, @NBCNews‘ @albamonica confirmed.
Balogun’s one-game ban was reversed on Sunday and he’s eligible to play Monday vs. Belgium.
— Greg Rosenstein (@grosenstein) July 5, 2026
On Monday, Trump spoke with the media and admitted to talking to Infantino about the red card.
“The people in Belgium—if they win the game, they can be very proud. If they would have won the game with the player missing, it would have been a different feeling. You can’t do that, and I’m very glad.”
“All I did was ask for a review. I didn’t say, “You have to do this.”
“This man is a smart, tough man, Gianni Infantino. He’s a smart, tough man, and his stock has gone through the roof.”
Trump praised FIFA over their decision to suspend Balogun’s ban, and went on to blast the ref over the red card call.
“So I think they made a really brilliant decision. I think the referee’s call was horrible, and nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it’s fine. Nobody talks about the referee’s decision to issue the red card.”
“I didn’t know what the hell a red card was. When I found out, I said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” This guy just holds it up: “OK, your best player is not going to play in the next game.”
“I said, “Wow, that’s a lot of power. That’s terrible. But then I looked at his past, and it wasn’t so great.”
Trump on World Cup: Trump: All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul.
And I think it would have been terrible if they wouldn’t allow, you know, a top player—maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the team—to play. I think it would have had a… pic.twitter.com/y0pYUP1lHb
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 6, 2026
Belgium is attempting to appeal FIFA’s decision to suspend Balogun’s ban, but it doesn’t look likely to succeed.