Donald Trump has threatened to move World Cup games from cities he thinks are “not safe”.
The 2026 World Cup will be held across several states, including Democrat-run cities like New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, the US president said: “If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out of that city.”
Mr Trump added that if a stadium or city “is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup”, or for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, “we’ll move it around a little bit”.
“But I hope that’s not going to happen,” he added.
It is unclear whether Mr Trump has the authority to change the venues for the international football tournament, run by the sport’s world governing body FIFA, which is in charge of organising and selecting host cities.
Any changes would face logistical challenges, with the World Cup officially starting on 11 June and the first US-hosted games taking place the next day.
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The United States is co-hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico.
Throughout his second term, the US president has claimed cities run by Democratic officials have high crime rates and are unsafe.
In June, he ordered the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles over protests against immigration raids, and in August in Washington DC over crime.
He has also repeatedly threatened to send troops into cities like Chicago.
It comes after Sky News reported the Trump administration would push back on any attempt to ban Israeli football teams from UEFA and FIFA competitions.
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US will ‘absolutely’ try to stop Israeli ban, says spokesperson
Sky’s sports correspondent Rob Harris reported on Wednesday that discussions were taking place at high levels in European football about whether Israel should be banned, but no decision had been taken.
Alexandra Xanthaki, the UN special rapporteur for cultural rights, told Sky News: “I think that when we talk about teams, national teams, not individual athletes, of states that are subject to valid claims of genocide… this is where this is for sure a red line.”
A day after the report, Sky News learnt the US government, through Marco Rubio’s state department, had made a direct intervention to stop sporting sanctions being imposed.
A state department spokesperson told Sky News: “We will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup.”
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FIFA and UEFA have previously rejected calls to suspend Israel.
UEFA has previously publicly drawn a distinction between Russia’s ban and Israel’s participation – saying Russia launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and Israel’s war in Gaza is a response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks.
Earlier this month, a commission established by the UN accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza – accusations rejected by Israel.
