President Trump said Friday that Vladimir Putin may attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, showing a photo of the two leaders in the Oval Office.
He made the remark while hosting FIFA President Gianni Infantino to announce December’s World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center.
“I was just sent a picture from somebody that wants to bet here very badly. He’s been very respectful of me and of our country, but not so respectful of others. I’m going to sign this for him. But I was sent one, and I thought you all would like to see it. That’s a man named Vladimir Putin,” Trump said, showing off the photograph of him and Putin walking together. “Who I believe will be coming, depending on what happens. He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens. We have a lot of things happening over the next couple of weeks. But I thought it was a nice picture of him. OK, of me, but nice of him. So that was very nice, that it was sent to me, OK.”
Trump did not say if Putin would attend matches in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, though the U.S. will host most of the 100+ games. He also said the photo was from their meeting in Alaska last week on ending the Ukraine war, adding he recently told Putin he was “not happy” about a Russian strike on a U.S. factory in Ukraine.
“I told him I’m not happy about it. And I’m not happy about anything having to do with that war,” he said. “I’m not happy at all. We’ll see what happens. I think over the next two weeks, we’re going to find out which way it’s going to go and I better be very happy.”
Earlier this week, Trump stepped out of a White House meeting with European leaders and Zelensky to call Putin, later saying he would push for a Putin-Zelensky meeting. Russia has since signaled it may stall talks and cast doubt on prospects for a peace deal.
NOW – Trump displays a photo from Putin of them together and says Putin may attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/sktfSbf2Ey
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 22, 2025
