Trump says he will move 2026 World Cup games from 'unsafe' U.S. cities

President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that he would move World Cup matches away from any U.S. city he thinks is unsafe. "It will be safe for the World Cup," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "If I think it isn't safe, we'll move it into a different city."

The 2026 World Cup is to be hosted by Canada and Mexico, with the United States staging the bulk of the matches. Eleven U.S. cities are slated to host games, and the United States will stage 78 of the 104 fixtures, including the final."FIFA, which administers the tournament and selects host cities, would face logistical challenges should changes be made now or later. Trump has a close working relationship with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and chairs the World Cup taskforce, the people familiar with the discussions said, though no decision about altering hosts has been announced. The 11 U.S. host cities listed by FIFA are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle."

Trump was asked specifically about matches in Seattle and San Francisco, both Democratic run cities that would host six games apiece. He indicated that if a city is "even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup, or for the Olympics, but for the World Cup in particular," he would not allow it and would relocate matches to another city.

Trump's comments come as he has made tackling crime a central part of his political agenda. Last month, he deployed National Guard troops and federal officers into Washington, D.C., despite figures showing a fall in crime since it spiked in 2023. He said he planned to send troops into Memphis and Chicago too. In June, he ordered 2,000 National Guardsmen to Los Angeles to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.

In May, he floated the possibility that Russia could play at the tournament as an "incentive" to end the war in Ukraine, despite FIFA and UEFA bans on Russia since Russia's 2022 invasion. In March, he argued that tensions between the United States and its co-hosts Canada and Mexico would be good for the tournament, a view he expressed after imposing tariffs on the two neighbors.

The group-stage draw for the World Cup is scheduled for Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C.; the tournament will run from June 11 to July 19. This is a spotlight moment for how politics and security concerns intersect with major global sporting events, and it underscores the complexities of hosting a multi-site tournament across three countries.