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Trump Suggests It’s Time for Americans to Start Calling Soccer ‘Football’

The president cosplayed as a Chelsea FC fan over the weekend.

Recent soccer convert Donald Trump has joked he may rebrand the international sport “football” for America. The president attended the FIFA Club World Cup final between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain FC at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday. In an interview with Dazn, Trump spoke of his love of the world game. “They have done such a great job with the league or soccer—they would call it football, we call it soccer,” Trump said. “I am not sure that change can be made easily.” When asked, “Will you make an executive order that we can only say ‘football’ from now on?,” Trump gushed, “I think I could do that!” The president was booed when he appeared on video screens before the match. He also presented the winning trophy to Chelsea after “a little bit of an upset” 3 nil victory. While FIFA president Gianni Infantino moved away from the players, Trump wound up in a Chelsea sandwich. Trump also claimed soccer could find a larger American audience now that he is president. “I was just in Saudi Arabia... all of the leaders said ‘A year ago your country was dead, and now you have the hottest country in the world’... It’s really hot. And I think the soccer is going to be hot here too.”