He did it in the Club World Cup final and wanted to repeat it in the World Cup final. The US president, Donald Trump, could not be the protagonist in the champions’ photo of the Spanish national team, after Manchester City midfielder and captain of La Roja, Rodri Hernández, prevented the North American leader from standing in front of the champion squad during the trophy presentation.
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The Ballon d’Or, which received the cup from Trump’s hands, accompanied the president to leave the stage and waited to raise the victory until he was no longer in the center of the snapshot. However, despite Infantino’s efforts to leave the champions’ podium accompanied by Trump, the Republican remained to one side of the Spanish players, appearing slightly and with less prominence than desired.
Also at MetLife Stadium
Trump already challenged protocols at the Club World Cup celebration
This is not the first time that Trump, during an awards ceremony, tries to appear as one of the protagonists, as happened in Chelsea’s victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final, also held at MetLife Stadium in New York.
On that occasion, Trump defied all protocols by remaining in the center of the champions’ photo, right next to Chelsea captain Reece James, who was in charge of lifting the trophy. In fact, Trump was already a protagonist before the start of the 2026 World Cup, when during the group draw ceremony he was awarded the first FIFA Peace Prize, lifting a flashy golden trophy and hanging a gold medal around his own neck.
According to FIFA, the trophy was awarded to the US president for his “extraordinary action” to try to achieve peace in places such as Gaza, Southeast Asia, Africa, or Ukraine. This ceremony took place two months after the Nobel Prize committee chose María Corina Machado as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, despite the Republican president’s campaign to be chosen following his diplomatic actions in several world conflicts.
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