President Donald Trump was widely mocked after positioning himself front and center during Chelsea’s trophy lift at the FIFA Club World Cup final on Sunday.
The event, held at a sold-out MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, saw him greeted by loud boos from the crowd—boos that only intensified as he refused to leave the stage, instead lingering and openly basking in the attention.
Trump was booed multiple times, first when he appeared on the video boards during the national anthem, and again as he walked out alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino to present the trophy, awards, and runners-up medals.
While Infantino stepped aside during the trophy presentation, Trump remained in the spotlight, standing squarely in front of the cameras as Chelsea captain Reece James lifted the Club World Cup trophy and the team celebrated around him—drawing further criticism for appearing to upstage the moment.
Infantino can be seen gesturing for Trump to step aside and let the players have their moment but Trump instead lingered on stage.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
The mockery was swift.
The moment must have been awkward for Infantino, who has sought to align himself more closely with Trump on multiple occasions since the U.S. was awarded hosting rights for the Club World Cup in 2023.
Infantino described his relationship with Trump as “absolutely crucial” during a February meeting with the International Football Association Board and has appeared with him at several public events—including at the Oval Office, where they announced the creation of a World Cup task force.
According to Captain Reece James, who received the trophy and held it up on stage, while he knew Trump would be in attendance, "I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy, so I was a bit confused."
