OAN Staff Sophia Flores
10:00 AM – Monday, July 6, 2026
President Donald Trump has confirmed that he was the one to ask FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the red card given to United States men’s national team (USMNT) striker Folarin Balogun during the team’s match against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
While speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, following FIFA’s Sunday announcement that Balogun will be eligible to play on Monday night’s game, Trump stated that he had a small hand in the call reversal as he “didn’t think it was a foul.”
“All I did was ask for a review because I didn’t think it was a foul,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do.”
“This man is a smart, tough man, Gianni Infantino,” the president explained. “He’s a smart, tough man, and his stock has gone through the roof because the job he has done has been great. I feel like we have to have all the best players on the field.”
“I thought it was two great athletes that crashed each other and got entangled,” Trump said.
The president admitted that he didn’t initially realize the consequences of a red card, but once he figured out that the “horrible” call could keep one of America’s star players out of the Round of 16 game, he felt compelled to call the FIFA president.
According to a U.S. official, Trump called Infantino to better understand why a red card was given in the first place and why the American was forced to sit out of the next game. The FIFA president then informed Trump of an appeals process that is run by an independent board.
“I saw the play, and I’m a person that loves sports … that wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction … this referee, who is a little bit suspect if you check his past,” Trump said. “He made a call that nobody could believe … he’s our best player, or one of our best players. And he gave him a red card. I didn’t know what that meant … yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. [Balogun] didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s our best player or one of our best players.”
Belgium appealed the decision, and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) stated the reversal “crossed the line.”
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