Trump Warns Fifa Against Removing Infantino

US President Donald Trump has warned that Fifa would make a “terrible mistake” by removing president Gianni Infantino amid growing pressure over a controversial commercial proposal.

Trump’s comments come after Uefa, Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) publicly criticised Infantino over the collapse of the proposed Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE).

The plan would have involved establishing a new company to oversee the commercial and ticketing rights for Fifa competitions, including the World Cup. A 21% stake in the proposed company was reportedly set to be sold to a private investment firm.

Infantino has faced increasing scrutiny since details of the proposal emerged on 28 July.

Trump, however, has publicly backed the Fifa president, saying replacing him would be a serious error.

“Fifa would be making a terrible mistake if, for any reason, they even considered replacing president Gianni Infantino,” Trump said in a social media post.

He praised Infantino’s leadership and credited him with overseeing what he described as the most successful World Cup ever.

Trump added that Fifa’s future tournaments could suffer financially and commercially if Infantino were removed.

The US president’s intervention represents his strongest public defence of Infantino since the FFE proposal became public.

Infantino has maintained a close relationship with Trump. In 2025, the Fifa president presented Trump with the organisation’s Peace Prize.

The 2026 World Cup was hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico, with Spain defeating Argentina in the final to claim the title.