Trump jokes about executive order to call soccer 'football' in US, names greatest player of all time
By Ryan Gaydos
Published July 14, 2025
President Donald Trump was in attendance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to watch Chelsea win the FIFA Club World Cup over Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday afternoon.
Trump saw Chelsea win the match 3-0, and a subsequent scuffle once the final whistle blew. He also handed out awards and medals to participating players and referees once the dust settled.
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In between all of that, Trump spoke to DAZN's Emily Austin and praised FIFA president Gianni Infantino for putting the Club World Cup together in the U.S. one year before the World Cup takes place in North America.
"It's a big thing," Trump said. "And, you know, Gianni is a friend of mine. He has done such a great job with the league and with soccer, or they would call it football, but I guess we call it soccer. I am not sure that change can be made very easily, but it is great to watch and this is a little bit of an upset that we are watching today, isn't it? So far, it is incredible."
Trump joked he may be able to sign an executive order to officially call soccer, "football," in the U.S.
"I think we can do that, I think we can do that," he said.
TRUMP APPEARS AT FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP FINAL ON ANNIVERSARY OF PENNSYLVANIA ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
He was also asked about who he thought the greatest soccer player of all time was.
Trump reached back into the days of the New York Cosmos to give praise to Pelé.
"Many years ago when I was young, they brought a player named Pelé to play and he played for a team called the Cosmos… this place was packed. It was an earlier version of this stadium right here in the Meadowlands and it was Pelé," Trump said. "I don't want to date myself, but that was a long time ago. I was a young guy and I came to watch Pelé and he was fantastic, and so I would say I will probably go old-fashioned. That's like saying Babe Ruth, but I would say Pelé was so great."
Pelé is often considered the greatest soccer player of all time. The Brazilian scored 569 goals in 583 appearances for Santos in Brazil.
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He joined the Cosmos in 1975 for the upstart North American Soccer League. He made 64 appearances for the Cosmos until 1977. He scored 37 goals.
Fox News' Connor McGahan contributed to this report.
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