Not without the president: Trump at the World Cup draw

US President Donald Trump will attend the World Cup group stage draw in Washington on Friday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced this on Monday (local time).

02 December 2025

From: dpa

"President Trump will attend the World Cup finals draw at the Kennedy Center on Friday," she told reporters. There had recently been speculation that Trump might receive FIFA's new Peace Prize.

Whether the 79-year-old Republican will merely be a guest or also play an active role in the roughly two-hour show remains unclear, according to Leavitt. The US, along with Mexico and Canada, will host the largest FIFA World Cup in history next summer, with 48 participating countries, including Austria, in eleven cities. Trump most recently hosted FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the White House in mid-November.

The so-called "FIFA Pass" was unveiled, which is intended to give fans with World Cup tickets priority when applying for US visas. At the same time, the US president again threatened to withdraw World Cup matches from cities governed by Democrats, citing security concerns. He specifically targeted Los Angeles and Seattle.