91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Sports

Trump creates 2026 FIFA World Cup task force, says trade war will make tournament "more exciting"

/ CBS/AP

President Trump announced Friday that he is creating a task force to prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is being held in North America next year. The task force will oversee logistics and security for the entire event in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

"I think it's going to make it more exciting," Mr. Trump said of playing the World Cup amid sharp rhetoric between leaders of the host nations amid the on-again, off-again tariffs that have ratcheted up tensions across the continent. "Tension's a good thing."  

The task force, which Trump will chair, will coordinate the federal government's security and planning for the tournament, which is expected to draw millions of tourists from around the world. Vice President JD Vance will serve as vice chair.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was on hand for the announcement with the World Cup trophy.  

Trump
President Donald Trump, right, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino shake hands after Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 7, 2025. Pool via AP

Preparations are ramping up across the continent alongside tensions between the U.S. and its neighbors as Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to impose tariffs before backing off, spooking markets and leading to fears of a trade war and economic downturn. He also speaks pejoratively of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and muses about Canada becoming a U.S. state, which has boosted national pride north of the border.  

Infantino, meanwhile, said the task force will ensure that each of the visitors who will travel from around the world "feels safe, feels happy and feels that we are doing something special."

"So we're here to create and to make the best show on the planet ever," Infantino said. He gave Mr. Trump a personalized game ball and unveiled an elaborate trophy that will go to the winner of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will pit top soccer clubs against each other this summer ahead of next year's matchup of national teams. 

Soccer's biggest tournament will have games spread across 16 host cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico over the course of a month. 

Eleven U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, will host World Cup matches. The 10 other U.S. host cities are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, San Francisco and Seattle.

Toronto and Vancouver are the Canadian host cities, and in Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey were chosen.  

Mr. Trump met Friday with officials from FIFA, the international soccer governing body.

"It's a great honor for our country to have it," Mr. Trump told reporters.

The president said he'd like to attend multiple games.

Sources told CBS News Philadelphia that Philadelphia is moving forward with their current plans.

Earlier this week, Philadelphia Soccer 2026 unveiled the city's official FIFA World Cup poster.

In:

© 2025 91³Ô¹ÏÍø. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });