President Donald Trump is catching heat for floating the idea that a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia could be reached by allowing the latter to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
Speaking at the World Cup's first 2026 task force meeting on Tuesday, Trump facetiously said he was unaware Russia could not participate.
“I didn’t know that. Is that right?” Trump replied slyly.
FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, then confirmed “[Russia is] banned for the time being from playing, but we hope that something happens and peace will happen so that Russia can be readmitted."
Trump then replied: “That’s possible. Hey, that could be a good incentive, right? We want to get them to stop. We want them to stop.”
The idea caught the ire of many.
ALSO READ: 'Dictatorship, not a town hall': Families 'distraught' as MTG disruptors tased and jailed
“Idiot Trump thinks Putin will stop the war if Russia is allowed to participate in the World Cup — a f**** mass murderer — while FIFA refuses to lift the ban,” wrote Hungarian X user Pete, who is a researcher of geopolitics. “That’s like saying Jeffrey Dahmer might’ve reconsidered cannibalism if he’d been invited to a dinner party. You don’t incentivize peace by rewarding war criminals with global stages; you isolate them until they rot.”
Ukrainian national Devana said in part, “Reminder: Gianni Infantino has long been seen as pro-Russian and is rumored to be personally close to Putin. His soft rhetoric about ‘hoping for peace’ often sounds like a convenient excuse to reintegrate Russia into international events without accountability.”
“Can you imagine this? Trump believes that allowing Russia’s national team to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup could serve as an incentive to end the war in Ukraine,” posted artist Saint Javelin. “Yes, during a meeting of the task force preparing for the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, Trump said he had no idea that Russia had been banned from international football competitions.”
According to a report from The Athletic, “Since their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s national teams and domestic clubs have been suspended by FIFA and UEFA, which respectively govern world and European soccer.”
Russia took both governing bodies to court, challenging the decision, but the suspensions were upheld in 2023 after Russia appealed.