FIFA appeared to crop out President Donald Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino from pictures shared to social media celebrating Spain’s World Cup victory over Argentina—but the White House shared a series of pictures Monday afternoon that all prominently feature the president.
Trump and Infantino presented the World Cup trophy to Spain on Sunday. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
- Pictures shared to FIFA’s official social media accounts following the World Cup final, depicting the Spanish team holding the trophy on stage at MetLife Stadium, appear carefully cropped to exclude Trump, who stood near the team while they celebrated.
- A photo the Spanish team posted on Instagram immediately after the match also does not include Trump, nor does a 20-slide post from later Sunday night that shows the team celebrating.
- But on Monday afternoon, the White House shared six pictures from the final on social media, all of which include Trump—in two of which he is the only person in focus—while only two of the pictures include the Spanish team.
- Trump’s presentation of the trophy was described by some commentators as awkward, as Infantino apparently attempted to guide Trump away from the team as they lifted the trophy and confetti launched from cannons.
- Trump and Infantino were also met with boos from the crowd when they appeared on screen and entered the field for the trophy presentation, though a Spanish player mimicked the president’s “Trump dance,” which he often performs to the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.,” while Trump was on stage.
- As Trump and Infantino stood nearby while the Spanish team celebrated, one Australian commentator, Claudio Fabiano, was caught on his mic saying, “They’re gonna edit him out of that.”
Surprising fact
Trump did nearly the same thing last year when he and Infantino presented the Club World Cup trophy to Chelsea. While Infantino moved out of the frame, the president stayed front and center while the team lifted the trophy. Chelsea’s captain Reece James said after the game he was told Trump would “present the trophy, and then exit the stage,” while player Cole Palmer said he was “a bit confused” by the incident.
Tangent
Trump and Infantino courted controversy throughout the World Cup, with some FIFA fans accusing the organization’s president of cozying up to Trump ahead of the United States hosting the tournament. Sepp Blatter, a former FIFA president, called the organization a “dictatorship” in February and accused Infantino of being “submissive” to and currying favor with Trump. Controversy erupted after Trump called Infantino before FIFA lifted U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension, though Trump has said he did not tell Infantino what to do. Infantino has also faced accusations from some fans that the organization has favored Argentina and its star player, Lionel Messi. FIFA has faced allegations of favoring Argentina for years, though the accusations gained steam this year after Argentina’s controversial win over Egypt, which led the Egyptian team to raise questions about “consistency and fairness.”
Key background
Spain won the World Cup over reigning champions Argentina on Sunday, scoring a single goal in overtime to claim the trophy. The win was Spain’s first since 2010, and it halted Argentina from being the first team since Brazil in 1962 from winning back-to-back titles. Argentina was down one player in the final stretch after Enzo Fernandez was sent off with a red card after tackling Spain’s Pau Cubarsí, who was sent flying.
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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