Inside Donald Trump's extraordinary bromance with Gianni Infantino

Gianni Infantino was in the Oval Office almost seven years ago when he introduced Donald Trump, then in his first term as president of the United States, to the concept of football's yellow and red cards.
The Fifa president was a much less globally established figure in 2018 – just a few weeks past his first World Cup finals at the head of the organisation he had ruled since shortly after its 2015 crisis.
Trump was then effusive in his praise of Infantino's efforts to secure the United States the 2026 World Cup finals, although regretted that he would not be in office when the tournament arrived. 'The media is going to be very boring,' Trump riffed, as his mind wandered to 2026 and the possibility of a post-Trump White House. 'It's going to be very boring. They'll all be out of business, I guess.'
As Trump brought matters to a close, Infantino managed to take control for a few seconds to explain the refereeing cards that he had brought Trump as a novelty gift. 'Yellow card is a warning,' Infantino said, 'and when you want to kick out some… like this'. He raised the card in the time-honoured fashion and Trump looked delighted. He had been handed the perfect visual joke which gave him the chance to take centre-stage.
Trump took the red and brandished it in the direction of the media. The cameras clicked. And then it was back to questions about who might pay for the border wall with Mexico.
The rise of Infantino, the Swiss lawyer who became the most powerful man in sport, or at least its most powerful broker, is an extraordinary tale. His presidency itself has been built on not one but two US World Cups endorsed by Trump. And another delivered to the Saudi Arabia ruler, Crown-Prince Mohamed Bin-Salman – to whom Trump is often said to have smoothed the path.
That meeting, in 2018, demonstrated something as true then as it is now: Infantino has learned – ahead of many of the leaders of European nations – how to manage Trump in public and private. And he was at it again last night.
The Fifa president was back at the White House with a selection of Juventus players and management in the early hours of Thursday, British time. Trump shook hands with the two US players in the side – Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah – and then Infantino and the players stood around while the US president expounded on the big questions of the day, none of which were Fifa Club World Cup -related. There was the potential for US intervention in the Israel-Iran conflict and his opposition to the Iranian state having a nuclear weapon.
But it was to Infantino whom Trump went back again and again as the straight man for his quips. He joked about the scarcity of tickets for Juve's game a few hours later, a 5-0 win against Al-Ain, and whether Infantino could get some for his friends. Then later, when Trump finally had a question that he liked, he turned to his friend and chuckled, 'One out of 10, Gianni, one out of 10'. Infantino beamed back.
For others, like the Juve party, life in proximity to Trump can be utterly baffling. At one point, Trump, musing on trans rights, asked them: 'Could a woman make your team?' Later, mid-point about B52 stealth bombers, Trump turned to the bewildered players and asked: 'You guys want to be stealthy, right?' But each time Infantino was called upon to respond to, or sustain, a Trump joke, he knew exactly what to do. He never misses a chance to emphasise the US role in the two Fifa tournaments being staged there currently and next year – and with good reason.
From Trump, Infantino has the biggest economy in the world in which to stage Fifa's most lucrative event, the 2026 men's World Cup finals. Infantino also has the US for his personal project: the 32-team Club World Cup that began on Saturday. The latter is a blatant grab at the lucrative elite-club broadcast rights. A declaration of war with Uefa and European domestic leagues over the calendar. It would be right to say that it is by far the most disruptive event ever conceived of and forced through on the say-so of a Fifa president.
How many will attend, stream or watch may just be a side issue. Infantino has consolidated power with two key world leaders as fond of disruption as he is himself. The Trump-Infantino bromance is strong, for now. Trump has personally chaired televised World Cup press announcements, posed with the Tiffany & Co designed Club World Cup trophy, and lavished praise on Infantino. While Bin-Salman who has done something even more important: he has paid for the whole thing.
Centre-stage with Trump again this week, the question once again is: how did Infantino get here?
Infantino's rise after Fifa corruption
Ten years ago, at the age of 45, Infantino emerged from the wreckage of the careers of his Fifa predecessor Sepp Blatter and his former boss, Uefa president Michel Platini, to seize power at Fifa. He did so on his famous 'Fifa 2.0' ticket – promising a departure from the corruption of the past. When Swiss police swooped on the Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich on May 27, 2015, to arrest Fifa executives, they did so as part of an FBI operation to take Fifa out at the knees.
It was the 2010 vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup finals that had humiliated the 2022 US bid and piqued the interest of another US president, Bill Clinton. Post-White House he had given his support to US 2022 and was in Zurich when the US polled just three Fifa executive committee votes in the first round. If Clinton's interest in Fifa and football was awakened before 2010, then Fifa certainly had his full attention now. Soon the power of the FBI was concentrated on Fifa and, within five years, the Blatter power structure had been dismantled.
In the aftermath of May 2015, Fifa had turned to a Clinton-friendly institution to begin the 'Fifa 2.0' project. That was the crisis management and public affairs advisory Teneo, staffed by a number of former Clinton advisers, many of whom had worked on the US 2022 bid.
Later that year Infantino was voted on to Fifa's reform committee and in the following February he was elected to the presidency. He was endorsed by many as the man to clean up Fifa, including the English Football Association. Eight months later, the US presidential elections delivered a shock. Instead of Hillary, and a second Clinton family presidency, it was Trump.
Why Trump backed US World Cup bid
Infantino needed the 2026 World Cup – the first awarded in his presidency – to go to the world's most powerful nation. Fifa needed the commercial deals and the big international brands to return, as well as the US ticket and hospitality market. Improbably, Trump seemed to like it, too.
The world stage, and the US competence at global events, seemed to catch his famously butterfly attention. He was impressed by Infantino in a way one would not imagine Trump would be, when presented with a middle-aged Swiss lawyer in suit and tie. Perhaps that was because Trump's youngest child Barron, now 19, was a keen football fan and had told his father that Infantino was a serious figure.
Trump considered the 2026 bid important enough that it stayed in the family. While bidding is the responsibility of national associations, in this case the US Soccer Federation (USSF), the point of contact in the White House was a familiar face. That was Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had been part of the government's support for Los Angeles' successful bid for the 2028 Olympics. Political patronage is required for any successful World Cup bid in order to sign the demanding legal guarantees Fifa requires on visa and tax issues.
The USSF would eventually build a tripartite bid with its Mexican and Canadian counterparts – but Trump barely ever mentions the involvement of those two nations. Indeed, when Infantino nervously added the co-hosts to a conversation during a press briefing at the White House last month, Trump praised him for gabbling the names of both countries quickly.
With Fifa coming out of a crisis and looking for a safe home for the 2026 finals, many feel that it would always be the US and its two junior partners. The only rival that announced itself before the 2017 deadline was Morocco, a perennial failed World Cup bidder, which would have represented a huge commercial and logistical risk for Fifa.
Nevertheless, Trump's propensity to offend some or all of the 211 Fifa member nations ahead of the 2018 vote could not be underestimated. Infantino would have to work hard to deliver a US World Cup in 2026.
First there were the immigration laws introduced in Trump's first term that were potentially objectionable to many of the nations voting. There was also Trump's widely reported ' s---hole countries ' remark in January 2018, made privately to a group of senators, and directed at Central American and African countries which had high levels of immigration into the US. But Infantino wanted the US and its two neighbours to host 2026. Kushner had Bin Salman onside. The public backing of Saudi Arabia for US 2026 was regarded as crucial.
Infantino would later host Trump at Davos as his guest of honour in 2019. That year, Fifa even managed to navigate the embarrassment of the US women's World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe, and other team-mates, refusing to visit the White House. This was a relationship to be protected at all costs.
As for the vote on the 2026 venue, Morocco never got close. The US polled more than double the number of votes as Morocco at the Fifa Congress at the Russia World Cup in June 2018. Infantino had delivered for Trump, and, for a self-declared transactional president, that seemed to resonate.
Saudi backing key to Club World Cup
Even before the 2018 Fifa vote in Moscow, Infantino had been discussing the possibility of a new competition: an expanded, four-yearly summer global club competition that would take precedence over its existing Club World Cup. Not that the new Club World Cup would replace the pre-existing one. That December competition would eventually be rebranded the Fifa Intercontinental Cup, as it once was in a previous iteration.
Originally the competition was to be backed by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, itself backed by Saudi Arabia – a huge investment of £25 billion and a first tournament in China in 2021. Then football was turned upside down by Covid, the European Super League breakaway and its backlash. Infantino was notably slow to add his voice to the condemnation of the Super League.
The New York Times would later report it had seen documents that showed Infantino had struck an agreement with the 12 Super League clubs to back the project in return for their support for his Club World Cup. La Liga president Javier Tebas publicly alleged the same.
Infantino is not, however, easily deterred. Although the 2021 Club World Cup never went ahead, the idea of the tournament did not go away. Only at the Club World Cup of December 2023 did Fifa finally announce the expanded 32-team format, a qualification principle and some dates for the tournament.
It did so in a hotel in Jeddah with the details briefed by Fifa officials while Infantino himself declined to do any interviews with media. Unlike his predecessor Blatter, who could not resist the adversarial press conference, Infantino never offers himself for interview. Or at least not those who might ask awkward questions. His main Club World Cup preview to date has been with the US YouTuber Darren Watkins, known under the moniker 'iShowSpeed'.
🚨| BREAKING: FIFA President Gianni Infantino just pulled up on Speed's stream and brought him the official kickoff ball for the first Club World Cup match 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/Wz4GN5RN8y
— Speedy HQ (@IShowSpeedHQ) May 23, 2025
Defeat for Trump in the election of November 2020 had left Infantino with a problem. The administration of president Joe Biden was not nearly as keen on Fifa and Infantino, and Fifa had a double-commitment in the US. Not only was it planning for 2026, but it was scrambling to do the same for the Club World Cup one year earlier.
Remarkably, the 11 Club World Cup host cities were announced as late as last September. Infantino threw Inter Miami – and Lionel Messi – into the competition with an impromptu announcement in October. The $1billion (£850 million) global broadcast deal with DAZN was announced in December.
In May, Fifa ejected the Mexican club Leon over multi-club ownership rules. Only at the start of this month did they stage a play-off between Major League Soccer's LAFC and Mexico's Club America to decide a replacement, won by the former. It has been last minute all the way.
Infantino has the tiger by the tail
Trump had complained in 2018 that he would be out of office by the time the Fifa show arrived. Then in December last year his election victory returned him to the White House and, amid the tumult of his second term, reignited the Infantino partnership.
The Fifa president has not missed an opportunity to court Trump and his inner circle. He was even late for his own Fifa Congress in May in Paraguay having overstayed with the Trump tour of the Middle East – a move that prompted a walkout by western European national associations, including the English FA.
Infantino may argue in private that he has to play by the Trump rules. Fifa is wedded to the US and its volatile president for the next 13 months – and the commercial success of 2026 is crucial to Fifa.
On one side, Infantino has the most divergent institutions around the globe, and many among them will find Trump's policies and remarks abhorrent. On the other side, the Fifa president knows that to retain power he must generate revenue for his 211 members and with the Club World Cup he aims eventually to tear a big slice of that off his Uefa rivals.
History suggests that as long as Infantino can come up with the cash, his membership might be prepared to hold their noses. So far Trump has been a powerful ally, but also one that will not hesitate to retaliate if he feels slighted. Infantino has the tiger, but only by its tail.
That said, Infantino knows Trump well. The US president agreed in March to an appearance with the Club World Cup trophy in which Infantino seemed keen to test the power of Trump's oft-mentioned fondness for golden objects. The concentric rings could be moved into different positions, Infantino demonstrated, when unlocked by a key. Infantino handed it to the US president amid applause. 'That is something, huh?' Trump declared, although he had seemed to enjoy more the red card he was given.
It was the announcement of the World Cup Task Force by Trump in May that really underscored the relationship between the two men. In attendance were key figures from the Trump administration. With vice-president JD Vance on his right side and Infantino to his left, Trump was in a buoyant mood. He praised the Fifa president as 'one of the most powerful men in sport'.
'You can see Gianni is a very enthusiastic man and that's one of the reasons you [Infantino] have had so much success,' Trump said. 'He's like someone who just woke up on Christmas morning as a young child and saw those toys under the tree and that enthusiasm really plays well.'
One can tell Infantino is cautious around Trump. He is aware that he must join in the 'Maga' badinage but also try to get across his official Fifa messaging and play to his own base – the 211 Fifa members. He is always at pains to remind the world of the existence of the 2026 co-hosts Mexico and Canada and nervously laughed off Trump's joke that he was right to mention them only in passing.
Infantino reassured the US president that 78 of the 104 tournament games would be in the US. He repeated the claim that 2026 would be like '104 Super Bowls'. Across both tournaments there would be 10 million tickets sold. There would be $50 billion (£37 billion) in added economic output, Infantino said, and 300,000 US jobs created. Two million visitors, he said, would come. Although different figures have been quoted at different times.
Flattery works in the court of Trump
Behind the scenes, Fifa needs the Trump administration's guarantees on visas and taxes. Fifa does not pay local taxes and that is why its travelling four-yearly men's World Cup is so lucrative. For that to happen, Infantino needs to have a relationship with the man at the top and that is how he has learnt to do business with Trump, as he has done with Bin-Salman. A personal relationship, flattery, playing his role in the Trump court at all costs. Infantino might well just say with a shrug that this is the reality of doing business, but he will also be aware he is walking a fine line.
As with all who stay in Trump's orbit, there is always uncertainty. Trump did not put in an appearance for the start of the tournament on Saturday in Miami as might once have been hoped by Infantino. The Juventus White House visit seems also to have been brokered by Trump's friend and the club's executive chairman, John Elkann, the American scion of the Agnelli dynasty.
The 2026 World Cup is a logistical departure for Fifa. There is no local organising committee. Historically, the LOC was fundamental: made up of the country's leading football administrators, politicians and others who had strong relationships with central and regional government as well as all the other apparatus of state required to stage a major event. The LOC would use the planning and staging as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop football nationally. That was the case for the USSF in 1994, when the World Cup last came to the US.
Not this time. Fifa has moved to offices in Miami and is doing the planning itself. The USSF, which bid for the event, has been largely sidelined. The task force announced last month will be headed by Andrew Giuliani, son of Trump's friend Rudy – but that is not the same. It would be no different from an English World Cup without the visible presence of the FA. At an event last week in New York to mark one year out from the start of 2026, all 11 host cities were present but not the USSF and, notably, not Fifa.
Instead, the really big questions that remain about 2026 – on the financial arrangements and visas – as well as the federal budget that will be granted to host cities for issues such as security, would appear to be subject to negotiations behind the scenes.

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