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US soccer legend Alexi Lalas is giving his two cents on the whole Trump/World Cup controversy.
Last week, President Trump threatened to remove games from San Francisco and Los Angeles if he felt that Gavin Newsom wasn’t doing a good enough job of making California safe for tourists.
“If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA – and I would say, ‘Let’s move it to another location,’ and he would do that,
“Gavin Newsom – he’s got to get his act together! If he doesn’t play ball, we’re gonna have to be very tough on them!”
“If I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly, I would move it (Olympics) to another location if I had to,” he said. “On that one, I’d probably have to get a different kind of permission, but we would do that.”
Trump: “If somebody is doing a bad job and if I feel there is unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, and I would say, ‘let’s move it to another location.’ And he would do that … I could say the same things for the Olympics.” pic.twitter.com/5FFjEnMqrM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 14, 2025
FIFA has confirmed that they are willing to move World Cup games if the government declares a city unsafe.
“Safety and security are the top priorities at all FIFA events worldwide,” the organization said in a statement. “Safety and security are obviously the government’s responsibility, and they decide what is in the best interest of public safety.”
“We hope every one of our 16 host cities will be ready to successfully host and fulfill all necessary requirements.”
During a recent episode of his State Of The Union” podcast, Lalas praised Trump for being involved with the World Cup and wanting fans to be safe.
“Take your politics out of it, you would want the President Of The United States, months before we’re going to host a World Cup, being involved and being invested in it, which is why he constantly brings up the World Cup.”
“There are going to be people that are going to come over, and it is an advertisement to the world, and it behooves us as a reflection on him and all of us, that they have a good, awesome experience through the World Cup and that they are safe.”