Latest news with #AndrewGiuliani
Politico
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Andrew Giuliani has a new job. It's a high stakes position in a global arena.
Mounting the world's largest sporting event is never easy. But the task of planning the FIFA World Cup in the United States next summer has grown more complicated by President Donald Trump's border crackdown and contentious relationship with co-hosts Canada and Mexico. The job of coordinating the federal government's role has fallen to Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor and one-time Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. As a special assistant to the president, Andrew Giuliani served as a sports liaison during the first Trump administration and helped facilitate the reopening of U.S. professional sports leagues following the COVID-19 shutdown. But as head of the White House's FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force, Andrew Giuliani — who returned to the Trump administration after a failed bid to be New York's governor in 2022 — now has a much larger challenge. Immediately ahead of him is the Club World Cup, another FIFA-run tournament that will kick off next weekend and which soccer's international governing body is using as a test run for the much larger, more logistically complicated World Cup. It will be followed by other high-profile sporting competitions on American soil, including the summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2031, which Mexico will also co-host. 'If these are safe and secure games,' the 39-year-old former pro golfer said in an interview this week, 'then they're going to be successful games.' But even straightforward logistical questions that Giuliani faces, like how to expedite visa applications for players, fans and media, are fraught with geopolitical complexity: the first non-host country to qualify a team for next summer's tournament is Iran. (The transcript has been edited for length and clarity.) What do you say to those abroad wondering if they can or should travel to the United States given what they see from the administration's border policy? I would simply say: You're welcome here. If you apply early for your visa, if you qualify, then we want to have you here for the World Cup. President Trump has made it very clear that if you're going to come here to celebrate a great event like the World Cup, or America 250, we want you to come. If you're going to come here to cause trouble, then you're not welcome here. What I can tell you is we're going to be working hard on the back end to make sure that you have the opportunity to enjoy these games in person. What does that entail? The State Department has already seen a major reduction in times at some of these countries that were considered problem countries at the end of the Biden presidency. So I think you're going to see a real reduction in visa times. While we're not going to sacrifice our national security, we're going to make sure that the State Department has the resources that they need to process the visas to make the World Cup truly great from an American perspective — an America welcoming-the-world perspective. That language seems hard to reconcile with what this administration is actually doing immigration and trade. In my understanding of it, the President's America First mentality has never been America Only. So what exactly is the role of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force? First and foremost, we're not recreating any federal agency. You look at our task force members, and whether it's the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, Treasury, Commerce, FBI, DOJ, whoever it may be, we're not recreating their department here. What we're doing — to use a different football reference — is we're going to be lead blockers for them to make sure that we end up allowing them to coordinate to the point where we can maximize their strengths and to make sure we're efficient in getting through many of the roadblocks that exist in government. This task force should have been started three years ago, and we're playing catch-up. And that's right, there's a whole lot of work between now and really the Club World Cup, which was written into the executive order as a responsibility, but certainly with the World Cup in 2026, as well. Why do you think you were picked to run it? In 2020 a couple weeks into the shutdown — as we were getting into the great reopening of America — the President wanted to make sure that we could get our sports leagues open. And he tasked me, along with White House counsel and the State Department, to create a system to get our athletes and personnel in. And we were able to get nearly 15,000 athletes and support staff in at a time when it was very difficult. This will be more like 350,000 credentialed personnel — and you have ticket holders, and then we have potential fans here. But I can tell you already, we've set up a working group between FIFA, the State Department and the White House task force that works daily on recent issues for this Club World Cup. Soccer is known for its notoriously rowdy and sometimes violent fans. The last European final, in 2021, was marred by hundreds of ticketless fans storming Wembley Stadium in London. What can you do to prepare for that scenario? I'll give you a more recent example — 2024 in Copa América in Miami. This was a week after [the attempted assassination of Trump in] Butler. It was right at the end of the Republican convention. You had ticketless fans that basically stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium, and it took everything to get them off the field. So there have been security breakdowns as recently as last year. That's why for us, the focus is on making these games as safe and secure as humanly possible. That's where we've been focusing our energy. We've put together working groups with DHS, DOD, with our state and local partners. Already, we've done security briefs with nine of the 11 host cities for the Club World Cup games — we're going to be scheduling those other two — to look at their external security posture, their pitch protection, where we're looking at the pyrotechnics, and trying to make sure that the laws are enforced here. Are you prepared for the Club World Cup this year from a security standpoint? There is a different security posture with the Club World Cup versus the World Cup. For the Club World Cup — SEAR (Special Event Assessment Rating) level three and four events — there is no federal coordination team, the responsibility is on the state and locals and on the security of the stadiums for that. With that being said, we still are looking at the security posture, trying to see if there are holes that we can plug, of which we've done a few already and which we're continuing to do. Next year, that is when you will have the SEAR level one and level two events where you'll have federal coordination teams. Perimeters will be pushed out. You'll see some of that being tested already, which FIFA and some of the stadiums have agreed to for the Club World Cup. There will likely be fans crossing the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada to see matches. Are you coordinating with law enforcement in those countries? We're going to get to that with Canada and Mexico. We had some engagement with them, as well. I think right now my five meter target, if you will, is the Club World Cup, making sure those go off safely and securely. Then I think we start to look kind of more at our engagements with Canada and Mexico after the Club World Cup ends in the middle of July, The 11 American cities that will host matches are counting on federal money to support their security needs around next year's tournament. There's $600 million for that in the reconciliation bill. Are you concerned about whether that money will reach host cities in time? Look, anybody who has a fiscal ask wants their money yesterday, right? I certainly think it works fine. The only other time the United States hosted the men's tournament was in 1994. Do you have any memory of that? I remember going with my father and mother. I think it was my father's first year in office. I remember how hot it was. America is my team, but being part Italian, my second team is Italy, and I got the opportunity to go to an Italy-Ireland game in which Ireland upset Italy. It was a big thing in New York, as you can imagine, with so many Italian and Irish Americans that live in the greater New York area. So that was an incredible moment. And I remember going to the semifinal game where Italy ended up winning and advancing to the final. Obviously the U.S. had an amazing run to get to the knockout stage, which really put U.S. soccer on the map and was the start of the creation of Major League Soccer. And then obviously the women winning in 1999 — the first opportunity here for U.S. soccer to take off. And that's how I kind of look at 2026 and 2031 here — as that next opportunity to launch U.S. soccer even further globally.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Want to attend 2026 FIFA World Cup in U.S? Think twice, JD Vance says the Trump administration may deport tourists
US Vice President JD Vance's remarks about the 2026 FIFA World Cup created controversy. He suggested visitors would have to leave after the event or face Homeland Security. This comment occurred during an event announcing Andrew Giuliani's role in a World Cup task force. Social media users criticised Vance's statement. Many found his message unwelcoming and fear-mongering. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads JD Vance's World Cup Comments Spark Backlash Social Media Mockery Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads FAQs Vice president JD Vance tried to stir excitement for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup but instead stirred controversy, as per a a press event on Tuesday, when it was announced that Andrew Giuliani , former Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's son, will head a World Cup task force , Vance chose to go off-script with a comment that left many mocking him. As per HuffPost, the 2026 World Cup, will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico next said, 'We'll have visitors from close to 100 countries. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the game,' quoted HuffPost. He mentioned that, 'But when the time is up, they'll have to go home, otherwise they'll have to talk to [Homeland Security] Secretary Noem,' as quoted in the to HuffPost, the intention of the meeting was partly to get people excited to travel to the United States , but Vance was made fun of for not understanding the remarks were criticised and mocked on social media platform X (previously Twitter), one user wrote, "He turned a World Cup welcome into a fear-mongering deportation line. Zero applause. Zero charisma. Zero clue," as per an X commented, "Come one, come all! Celebrate global unity at the World Cup... but don't get too comfortable, or Kristi 'Shoot First, Ask No Questions' Noem will personally escort you out,' as per an X post. A commenter wrote, "Right wing sense of humor is beyond cringe."One user posted, "Ah, the classic 'come for the party, but don't you dare overstay' welcome. Enjoy the goals, absorb the culture, but linger past check-out and your next scheduled appointment is apparently with the person who handles... inconvenient guests. Peak festive-but-also-firm messaging," according to an X one X user questioned, "Why would anyone risk coming? We have a President that denies people due process, that our constitution stipulates everyone on our soil has."Andrew Giuliani, former Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's son, will head a World Cup task force, as per Vance said that the tourists who come to the US to watch the World Cup should go back home when the time is up, otherwise, they'll have to face the Homeland Security Secretary
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump gives Rudy Giuliani's son top World Cup post
President Donald Trump handed Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, the role of executive director of the task force overseeing the 2026 FIFA World Cup. At the first meeting of the task force on Tuesday, Trump said the younger Giuliani is going to 'be great.' 'I've known him for a long time. He's a highly competitive golfer, which I mean, really good. And he's also a highly competitive person, and he loves what we're doing,' said Trump, according to Politico. Trump also revealed Tuesday that senior Infantino adviser Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs staffer, would be a senior adviser on the task force. The U.S. won the hosting duties for the 2026 tournament alongside Mexico and Canada during Trump's first term in the White House. Eleven American cities will host games, as will three in Mexico and two in Canada. 'Together, we will ensure that the 2026 World Cup will be the best-run soccer tournament the world has ever seen,' said Trump, referring to FIFA president Gianni Infantino. 'This is going to blow every other tournament you did. You're gonna say, 'how terrible a job you did in the past, because this is so much better,' Gianni. This is going to blow 'em all away.' Andrew Giuliani attends a meeting of the FIFA Task Force at the White House. Trump appointed him executive director of the task force (REUTERS) FIFA has said that at least five million fans are expected to attend the tournament from across the globe. Even as many prospective tourists have canceled their trips to the U.S. amid stories of people being detained at the border, Vice President JD Vance insisted at the meeting that the administration would continue to adhere to its strict immigration policies. 'I know we'll have visitors, probably from close to 100 countries. We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the game. But when the time is up, they'll have to go home, otherwise they'll have to talk to [Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem,' warned Vance. On Monday, Trump announced that the 2027 NFL Draft would be held in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. He has also celebrated the building of a 65,000-seat football stadium for the Washington Commanders, which would open in 2030 if the D.C. council approves it. During Trump's first term, Andrew Giuliani was a special assistant to the president and associate director of the Office of Public Liaison. In that role, he managed the visits of winning sports teams to the White House. In 2022, he ran for governor of New York, losing the Republican primary to former Rep. Lee Zeldin, now the director of the Environmental Protection Agency. His father was deeply involved in pressuring Ukrainian officials during Trump's first term in the White House to open investigations into Joe Biden's son, Hunter, regarding international business dealings. Trump threatened to hold up American weapons deliveries to Ukraine if President Vlodymyr Zelensky did not launch a baseless probe into Hunter Biden's activities, which resulted in Trump's first impeachment. Rudy Giuliani was also a key spokesperson for the baseless Trump and MAGA claim that the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost was rigged. Giuliani was later ordered to pay $148 million in defamation damages after he repeatedly accused a mother and her daughter of vote manipulation in their jobs as Georgia poll workers. The U.S. lost a previous bid to Qatar in 2010 to host the 2022 World Cup. In 2015 the U.S. Department of Justice charged a total of 30 FIFA officials with fraud, money-laundering and racketeering, among other crimes, including soliciting bribes for choosing particular World Cup venues. Nearly everyone charged was found guilty, or pleaded guilty to the charges. The 2026 World Cup is scheduled to run from June 11 to July 19, with the final set be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Trump taps Andrew Giuliani to lead 2026 World Cup task force
Trump taps Andrew Giuliani to lead 2026 World Cup task force Show Caption Hide Caption Trump, Carney debate annexing Canada as 51st state Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump debated annexing Canada as 51st state during a White House visit. WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump named Andrew Giuliani, son of close Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, executive director of the president's task force on the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the U.S. prepares to host to the international event. "I've known him for a long time. He's a highly competitive golfer ‒ which I mean, really good ‒ and he's also a highly competitive person," Trump said, introducing Andrew Giuliani to the post during a May 6 task force meeting at the White House featuring FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Andrew Giuliani, who worked as a White House aide during Trump's first term, lost the 2022 Republican primary for New York governor to Lee Zeldin, who went on to lose to Gov. Kathy Hochul in the general election. Giuliani's father, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is a longtime Trump associate who was indicted in Georgia and Arizona for his role in helping Trump try to overturn the 2020 election results. Rudy Giuliani has pleaded not guilty. More: FIFA says World Cup, Club World Cup could bring $47B in economic impact to US The World Cup task force, chaired by Trump with Vice President JD Vance as the vice chair, includes other members of Trump's Cabinet. The group, created by a March 7 executive order, has been tasked with assisting on the planning, organization and execution of events surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which begins in June. The United States last hosted the World Cup in 1994. The 2026 World Cup of 48 national teams will bring 78 matches to 11 host cities in the U.S. The tournament will consist of 104 matches overall across North America, with additional games set for Canada and Mexico. "One hundred and four games, Mr. President. One hundred and four Super Bowls in one month, " Infantino said to Trump said. "We'll have 6 billion viewers. The final alone will attract between two and three billion viewers. This is 15 times more than the Super Bowl." More: Lionel Messi is thinking about playing in 2026 World Cup. Here's what he said. The inaugural 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, featuring 32 soccer clubs from across the world competing in 63 matches, begins June 14 in Miami. Ten additional U.S. cities will host matches, with the finals set for July 19 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. "These events will attract millions of passionate fans around the world, including my son," Trump said, referring to his 19-year-old son, Barron Trump. "This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase the beauty and the greatness of America, and we can't wait to welcome soccer fans from all over the globe." Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
The Hill
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump taps Andrew Giuliani to lead task force on 2026 World Cup
President Trump on Tuesday announced Andrew Giuliani, an ally and son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, would lead a task force overseeing the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in North America. Trump convened a meeting of that task force at the White House with a host of FIFA and administration officials to tout plans for the massive event. The United States will serve as the primary host, with Mexico and Canada also hosting several matches. It will kick off on June 11, 2026, and it will mark the first men's World Cup to expand from 32 teams to 48 teams. Trump said he did not foresee any tensions with Canada and Mexico in jointly hosting next summer's event. He hosted new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the White House earlier in the day. Trump touted that Andrew Giuliani is a 'highly competitive golfer…and he's also a highly competitive person, and he loves what we're doing.' 'It's a big post. You better do well, Andrew,' Trump joked to Giuliani during Tuesday's task force meeting. Carlos Cordeiro, who serves as a senior adviser to FIFA, will also advise the task force, Trump said. Other attendees at the White House roundtable included Vice President Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito ( and Todd Young (R-Ind.), FBI Director Kash Patel and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. 'Together this group will help plan the biggest, safest and most extraordinary soccer tournament in history,' Trump said during the task force meeting. The World Cup is expected to draw millions of spectators, from around the country and the world. Host cities in the U.S. include Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia and Miami. Toronto, Vancouver and Mexico City are among the cities in Canada and Mexico that will host matches. Vance and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy encouraged fans from around the globe to visit the United States for next year's tournament, though they cautioned against overstaying visas. North America was selected as the host site for the 2026 World Cup during Trump's first term in 2018. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics, a bid it won in 2017.
