‘Beyond parody’: Trump roasted for taking home FIFA trophy as team gets replica
The internet had strong words for President Donald Trump on Monday after The Daily Beast reported that he may have left a national soccer game with a piece of hardware that isn't his.
Trump attended the Gold Club World Cup match between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea over the weekend. He also helped present the winning trophy to Chelsea following the match, and awkwardly stuck around for the team's on-stage celebration. However, the real controversy appeared after the match when it was discovered that Trump kept the real Gold Club World Cup trophy for himself and forced FIFA to award Chelsea a replica.
Trump admitted as much to an announcer on DAZN during an in-game interview.
"‘When are you going to pick up the trophy?’, and [FIFA President Gianni Infantino] said: ‘We’re never going to pick it up, you can have it forever in the Oval Office,’” Trump said, according to The Daily Beast.
“And they actually made a new one [for Chelsea], but right now [the original] is in the Oval,” Trump continued.
Trump's admission set off a firestorm on social media.
"Oh, this is so deeply, profoundly, shameful," lawyer David Burke wrote in a post on X.
"So add kleptomania to all his other mental illnesses," sports commentator Keith Olbermann posted on X.
"Beyond parody," James Singer, a former staffer on Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign, wrote on X.
"Why has he infected soccer? Is there no refuge from that man?" writer Parker Molloy asked on Bluesky.
It was later revealed that Chelsea photoshopped Trump out of their team photo following the trophy celebration.
"I don’t know a thing about soccer, but Chelsea is my new favorite team," Democratic political strategist Chris Jackson posted on X.