Over the weekend, Donald Trump attended the FIFA Club World Cup, which happened to be held in New Jersey this year. Not only did Trump attend the final, he waddled onto the pitch to hand out the trophy, then refused to move off to the side when photographers tried to take photos of Chelsea FC celebrating their victory. Chelsea’s social media team ended up editing Trump out of the photos they posted online. But it’s even worse than that, of course. It turns out that FIFA gave Trump the original Club World Cup trophy to keep, and FIFA handed Chelsea a replica.
President Trump has revealed that the champions of the Club World Cup won’t be getting the original trophy, because he’s keeping it. English club Chelsea easily dispatched France’s Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the tournament in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday, with Trump joining the players for the trophy lift—much to their confusion.
It has since been revealed that the intricate prize hoisted aloft by the London club’s captain, Reece James, was a replica because the president of football’s governing body, FIFA, has let Trump use the original as an ornament in the Oval Office. The trophy, crafted in collaboration with Tiffany & Co, features a central disc with three rotating outer rings. It has a 24-carat gold-plated finish and is thought to have cost around $230,000 to make. If FIFA lets Trump keep the orbital award for good, it is likely to end up in the National Archives.
“They [FIFA] said: ‘Could you hold this trophy for a little while?’ We put it in the Oval Office and then I said: ‘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 explained in a mid-game chat with the broadcaster, DAZN.
He then revealed to reporter Emily Austin that the victor, Chelsea, actually received a replica of the original for winning the tournament.
“And they actually made a new one [for Chelsea] but right now [the original] is in the Oval,” he said.
And it’s not just the trophy that Trump got his hands on, according to reports. The Athletic was among several outlets to report that Infantino kept a medal aside for his friend, handing it to him after the trophy-lifting ceremony. It is unclear if the president kept the gold medallion, but his penchant for the color is well-known.
The FIFA boss has been in Washington, D.C., 10 times since Donald Trump returned to office in January, in an attempt to woo the president. He has previously argued that proximity to the president is “absolutely crucial” to the success of the 2026 World Cup, which will be partly hosted in the U.S. It comes as FIFA last week inadvertently confirmed the cosy Infantino-Trump relationship by moving its New York employees to a new office in Trump Tower, Manhattan.
“He has previously argued that proximity to the president is ‘absolutely crucial’ to the success of the 2026 World Cup….” No, I get that. I understand what Infantino is doing and he’s doing it really well – he’s greasing the wheels, flattering Trump and giving Trump gifts and bribes. Infantino is working Trump like he would a despot (Trump is a despot). As I was reading about Infantino’s open bribery, I was like “oh, he’s really worried about the World Cup,” and there it is. The World Cup is going to be a disaster next year, but Infantino is trying his best to convince Trump not to arrest every international tourist who comes to America to watch soccer next year. As for the trophy… it’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing that Trump is this way – swayed so easily whenever someone hands him something shiny.
Trump refused to leave even after they were practically pushing him away so Chelsea photoshopped him out of their official trophy raising photo. Good move. pic.twitter.com/igcVWyuVek
— Chris Sigurdson (@sigurdson_chris) July 14, 2025
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
