President Trump on Friday said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup being co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, showing off a photograph in the Oval Office of the two leaders together.
Trump hosted FIFA President Gianni Infantino to announce that the World Cup draw will be held at the Kennedy Center in December and at one point, he looked in a drawer of his desk and pulled out a photograph.
“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.
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“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. Okay of me but nice of him. So that was very nice that it was sent to me, okay,” Trump said.
Trump didn’t specify whether Putin would attend the games in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, who are all co-hosting the World Cup. The U.S. is expected to host the majority of the more than 100 soccer games planned.
The photograph was taken when the president and Putin met a week ago in Alaska to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.
Trump on Friday also said he talked to Putin recently and told him he wasn’t “happy” about a Russian strike on a U.S. factory in Ukraine on Thursday.
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“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 its going to go and I better be very happy.”
The president also spoke to Putin earlier in the week when he went into another room to call him during a meeting with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
After Trump hosted the group at the White House and called Putin, he said he would work on a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky. The Russians have since sent signals that it intends to slow-walk talks with Ukraine about ending the war and expressed doubt about some early prospects of a peace deal.
