FIFA is taking up residence in Trump Tower as the international soccer organization cozies up to the president ahead of next year’s World Cup, which is set to take place partly in the United States.
As The Athletic put it in reporting the news on Tuesday:
FIFA’s close relationship with Donald Trump is about to become even closer as the U.S. president is set to become its landlord, with world football’s governing body opening a New York office in Trump Tower.
FIFA’s move comes after Trump named himself chairman of a White House task force on the 2026 World Cup, and it effectively means the organization will be putting money in the president’s pockets as he and other handpicked officials help to shape the event.
It also brings together two organizations with histories of scandal: the Trump Organization, which a judge last year found liable for civil fraud related to the valuation of Trump Tower and other properties, and FIFA, whose list of controversies, including allegations of financial mismanagement and labor abuses, is long enough to fill several segments of John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight.”
In recent months, FIFA officials have taken heat for dropping anti-racism messages in the wake of Trump’s so-called anti-DEI initiatives, and the organization’s president, Gianni Infantino, has faced criticism for his close association with Trump, even as Trump’s immigration policies cast a pall over next year’s international event. Arguably, Trump’s immigration policies are already overshadowing FIFA’s Club World Cup here in the United States. As MSNBC producer Roey Hadar recently explained, Trump’s coziness with FIFA and FIFA’s acquiescence to Trump have already spurred a fair amount of public backlash from fans.
That the soccer organization is becoming one of the president’s tenants by taking office space in one of his company’s privately owned properties is unlikely to quell concerns about either partner in this relationship.
