The United States is lighting up the World Cup, so where is President Trump?

The Athletic has live coverage of Argentina vs Austria and France vs Iraq at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to Alexi Lalas, the former United States defender, Donald Trump is the “soccer president”.

“I cannot think of another administration where there has been more soccer emanating from the White House and the Oval Office,” Lalas said on The Ryen Russillo Show before the World Cup kicked off on June 11.

When President Trump established a White House Task Force to manage the logistics of the tournament’s security in January 2025, he made clear he was planning to attend several games. “I would like to go to, certainly, more than one,” he said. “We’ll be making the rounds; it’s a period of a month and it’s really top-of-the-line. It’s one of the great events of anywhere in the world.”

Eleven days into the world’s most popular sporting event, however, and the U.S. president is yet to make his 2026 men’s World Cup bow. To some, this may be a surprise, particularly as Trump has had replicas of both the FIFA World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup trophies inside his office for much of the past year.

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Trump was in his first term in 2018 when the joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico secured hosting rights for the 2026 World Cup and, since returning to power in January last year, has allowed FIFA president Gianni Infantino more Oval Office appearances than any world political leader. Two of the tournament’s most famous players — Lionel Messi with his MLS Cup-winning team Inter Miami in March and Cristiano Ronaldo at a dinner also attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — have also visited the White House in the past year.

The president appeared on stage at the draw for the group phase of the tournament — as well as collecting FIFA’s inaugural Peace Prize — at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in December. Soccer’s global governing body is also paying rent to the Trump family business by taking office space in Trump Tower in New York City.

During last summer’s Club World Cup, a considerably less well-attended or established competition than the World Cup, the Trump administration made itself highly visible. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and grandson Theodore made the ceremonial first picks of the Club World Cup group draw in Miami, with Trump streamed in for a video message.

The White House called the Juventus owner, executives, and team members including U.S. stars Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, into the Oval Office for an impromptu news conference on the afternoon of a Club World Cup game. At the tournament’s final, Trump strode onto the field to present the trophy and then bounced up and down alongside Chelsea’s captain Reece James when the England international lifted their prize.

It has been a different story at this World Cup, however. It is historically unusual for the head of state of a host nation to skip their team’s opening game at a men’s World Cup but President Trump did not attend the United States’ opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 12. He did make a phone call to the U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino and captain Tim Ream earlier in the week, however, telling the team: “I think you’ve got a really good chance of going all the way.”

An official explanation for the decision to miss the 4-1 win over Paraguay has not been provided but the White House hosted a UFC event to mark America’s 250th anniversary on the Sunday, June 14. People familiar with Trump’s schedule told The Athletic he would be attending walkthroughs for that appearance in the days leading up to it, which may have complicated a cross-country trip.

He was not alone in breaking with precedent, either, as the political leaders of the U.S.’ World Cup co-hosts, Canada and Mexico, did not attend the opening games in their countries.

Prime Minister Mark Carney missed Canada’s opening 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto as he held meetings in France, but he did attend Canada’s 6-0 win over Qatar in Vancouver in the second of their three group matches and then entered the Canadian locker room post-match to hail his country’s performance.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum made clear months ago she would not attend a World Cup game. She instead donated her opening night ticket, provided by FIFA, to a young Indigenous woman named Yolett Cervantes Cuaquehua, who won a competition by the Mexican government to claim the ticket. Sheinbaum said at a news conference: “As president, it’s better that I give my place to someone who couldn’t have gone.”

Trump’s absence, however, is more notable because during this second term in office he has rarely missed a big sporting moment on home soil. He has attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, UFC events in Miami, New Jersey and, of course, on the White House lawn, the Daytona 500 motor race in Florida, the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, that FIFA Club World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, golf’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York state, and the U.S. Open men’s tennis final and Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, both in New York City.

The U.S. presidency, of course, is a busy job. Trump also visited France for the G7 summit last week, where he was gifted a Germany soccer jersey bearing his name and the number 47 by Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

For the United States’ second game, a 2-0 win against Australia in Seattle that confirmed the team’s place in the knockout rounds, Trump attended the unveiling of a new Boeing 747, gifted by the Qatari government, which will soon serve as the new Air Force One for U.S. presidents, at a military base near Washington.

In Trump’s absence, senior officials present at games have included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Candidates for the 2028 Democratic ticket for the presidential election have also been present, with California’s Governor Gavin Newsom attending the U.S. opener in LA. Pennsylvania’s Governor Josh Shapiro is due to attend his second World Cup match in Philadelphia on Monday, when France plays Iraq.

And as the U.S. team has begun to trend on social media, the Trump administration has got involved in the conversation. The White House posted a message on X that said “USA! USA! USA!” on June 12 and then another that said “SOCCER!!!”, as well as resharing videos of fans singing ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’.

USA! USA! USA! https://t.co/yYluKjB4Ni

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 13, 2026

The Department of Homeland Security posted a graphic Friday lunchtime, ahead of the match against Australia, which said “DEFEND OUR HOMELAND: ONE NATION, ONE HOMELAND, ONE TEAM”, with the caption “OUR SOIL.”

Speaking Friday night, the Trump-appointed director of the White House World Cup task force Andrew Giuliani told The Athletic that defending the homeland is “a core principle of the America First movement”, while insisting the administration wants to welcome those who wish to enjoy the United States. 

Then, after the 2-0 win over Australia, the DHS superimposed a team photograph of the U.S. starting team on X in front of what appeared to be a steel gate, with the caption “BUILT THE WALL”, although the post had disappeared by Saturday evening. When asked why by The Athletic, DHS did not explain. U.S. Soccer declined to comment.

Trump congratulated the team on social media after the opening game win against Paraguay but had not commented on Truth Social about the Australia match as of Sunday evening. He has, however, posted about Father’s Day, broken the news of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s imminent resignation and run polls as to whether ICE agents should be called ICE or NICE and whether Democrats should be called Dumcrats or Dumbocrats, plus several videos about the UFC event at the White House and a message about golf’s PGA Tour.

Trump may simply be saving his grand entrance for the showpiece event of the World Cup at the final, back at MetLife Stadium, on July 19. Yet as a president who undoubtedly recognizes the power of television ratings and eyeballs, he will surely sense that the nation’s gaze is turning to the U.S. men’s national team, which has made a perfect start in the competition.

The match against Paraguay drew an average audience of 27.5 million viewers on Fox, Telemundo and their streaming platforms, and that number is expected to rise for the USMNT’s first elimination game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. Before then, Pochettino’s team have a dead-rubber game against Turkey in Los Angeles on Thursday to complete their group schedule.

Should we expect an appearance soon from the president?

“I spoke to him a day or two after the U.S. won against Paraguay,” Giuliani told The Athletic Friday. “He’s pumped. He understands this is a really good team that has a really special opportunity here.

“As this tournament goes on, as this U.S. team continues to play the way they are, you are going to continue to see, I think, more and more members of the administration. You’re going to see some really high-level representation in Los Angeles on Thursday.”

How high is really high? “We will see,” said Giuliani.

According to Giuliani, the World Cup coinciding with the United States’ 250th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate American “exceptionalism”. FIFA is planning special opening ceremonies to mark America’s 250th at both World Cup round-of-16 games on July 4, one in Houston and one in Philadelphia. So will Trump be at one of those matches?

“I always like to say there is nobody, nobody who likes a cliffhanger more than the 45th and 47th president, Donald J. Trump,” Giuliani says. “So all I tell people is just to stay tuned about his World Cup exploits. Obviously, he’s pulled in a lot of different directions on July 4. There are a whole lot of things going on.”