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Ex-president Trump has once again announced he would urge FIFA to pull global soccer tournament games from a designated city based on that city's governance, with Boston emerging as the most recent such city to encounter such threats from the American leader. Additionally, Trump remarked he would evaluate parallel steps against Southern California for the upcoming Olympic Games due to potential safety issues.

Jurisdictional Limits and Informal Leverage

While Trump does not have official jurisdiction to directly relocate either tournament, he is able to apply pressure the international organizations overseeing each event to shift venues.

Background of Comments

These comments were made during a media briefing with Argentina's leader Milei, who was visiting the presidential residence following the revelation of a $20 billion rescue package for the South American economy. At the close of the event, a journalist asked Trump about a latest unauthorized gathering in Boston where police officers were assaulted and a patrol car was burned. The reporter also questioned if such events could cause the revocation of hosting duties for the 48-team World Cup.

“It's possible to take them away,” he said about the FIFA World Cup matches, planned to be hosted at Gillette Stadium. “She is ineffective … they're radical left, and activists are taking over areas of downtown. That is a major assertion, right?”

Urban Disturbances and Public Safety Concerns

Public disruptions, a social media-driven trend where participants assemble on urban roads during nighttime to perform stunts, have been a repeated issue in American cities since the Covid-19 pandemic closures. Current incidents have escalated into violence in Massachusetts, including the city. However, these occurrences are typically not regarded as associated with any particular partisan agenda.

“When a city is failing, and I feel exist unsafe conditions, I will call the FIFA head, who is phenomenal, and say it should be shifted to a different city,” Trump commented on Tuesday. “He will do that. He wouldn’t love doing it, but he’d do it. Readily, he’d do it.”

Political Connections

Gianni Infantino has been open his strategies to be visibly associated with the US leader ahead of the 2026 event, set to be hosted in 11 cities across the United States along with several in Canada and multiple in the southern neighbor. The organization's leader has participated at multiple Oval Office events, arranged for Trump hand over the club tournament award after the championship match, and has even rescheduled his FIFA's internal meeting to join Trump on a visit to the Gulf states earlier in 2025.

Previous Threats

Despite this, Trump from suggesting the cancellation of soccer games from other US host cities. Recently, Seattle and the Bay Area metropolis came under comparable statements, with Trump asserting both locations were “run by far-left extremists who don’t know what they are doing,” while challenging the security conditions of both cities and implying that matches could be relocated.

FIFA Response

Victor Montagliani dismissed Trump’s claims when he responded afterward at a conference in the UK capital.

“This is FIFA’s tournament, under our authority, we decide those decisions,” the vice-president stated. “Respectfully to current world leaders, football is transcends political figures and the game will outlast their regime and their government. That is the beauty of football, that it is more significant than a single person and beyond a nation.”

Olympics Threat

On Tuesday, Trump’s response to a question about the Massachusetts city extended to a similar threat regarding the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“In case I believed the city was not adequately ready, I would move it to an alternate venue as needed,” Trump stated. “On that one I might have to get a alternative approval, but we will proceed.”

The permission Trump mentioned would have to come via the IOC. Their president, she, was chosen to her post in spring and has yet to meet publicly with Trump, although she stated that she hopes for a discussion with him at eventually.

Other Remarks

The former president also questioned Gavin Newsom’s response of the California fires, saying that a similar situation could result in the cancellation of the Olympics.

“When Newsom refuses to cooperate, we’re gonna have to be strict,” he said.

His message was similarly clear for Boston.

“The city better address these issues,” Trump stated. “It's I can say.”