There is something delightfully ironic and prophetic about the fact that on August 28, 2018, the day Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump met, the president of the international football federation gave the (other) politician a personalized set of red and yellow cards and said, "now you are part of FIFA." The Swiss, who has since become probably the biggest international flatterer of the president, suggested that he use them against the press when he got tired of it. And Trump, delighted, immediately showed the red card to the cameras, unaware that eight years later, back in the White House, the whole world would be scandalized by his maneuvers to annul a goal by one of his team's players.
Getting along with Trump is complicated. The American understands all relationships from the perspective of raw power, and considering himself the most powerful man on the planet demands not only loyalty and dedication but submission. Everything goes well if there is genuflection, praise, and gifts, preferably very large and golden. He wants to be involved in everything and at all times, and that includes football these weeks. Following the team's resounding defeat against Belgium yesterday, celebrated on all continents, editorials and columns in the US today wonder why the president feels this expansive need without being aware of the harm and hatred he causes.
Infantino quickly understood his interlocutor and adapted. While heads of state and government have been desperate for a decade to find the right tone with Trump and praying to avoid traps and humiliations, especially, but not only in the Oval Office, Infantino has never had the slightest friction. On the contrary. That first day, Trump assured him that his youngest son, Barron, the only football fan in the family, was a fan of the leader and wanted to meet him. "You must be very famous," Trump said then with a hint of admiration and suspicion. Since then, it has been a honeymoon between them.
In his first term, to celebrate that the US would host the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico, and to begin coordination efforts, Infantino and the president met repeatedly. In August 2019 at one of the billionaire's golf courses, who spends the hot summers in New Jersey, not far from where the tournament final will be held. A few weeks later, Infantino returned to the Oval Office. And in January 2020, they had lunch during the annual Davos Forum in Switzerland. By then, the bond between them was strong. Not personal, but beyond merely sports-related. Infantino and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seemed to be the only ones in all of Europe capable of always getting along with Trump without any hitches or quarrels. The Swiss, in fact, took advantage to cement something that would be key in the second term: the peacemaker role of the US president.
It was a huge surprise for many that in September 2020, less than two months before the elections, Infantino was one of the guests at the signing of the Abraham Accords, the Trump administration's major initiative to end wars in the Middle East and establish relations between Israel and its neighbors. It was the sports leader's third visit to the Oval Office, more than almost any world leader, except Benjamin Netanyahu, even though he was under investigation by his own country's justice system at the time.
But undoubtedly, it has been what has been seen during Trump's second term that has made headlines worldwide. An absolute, at times obscene devotion. Completely uncritical, enthusiastic, with praise, compliments, and gifts while Trump bombed countries, attacked institutions, threatened partners and allies, detained immigrants massively with brutal treatment, insulted the media and his rivals and opponents. Infantino, always devoted and unabashed (while campaigning for his own reelection) called Trump "the king of soccer" in March of last year, also giving him the gold trophy from the Club World Cup, which remained at the White House.
In December, FIFA celebrated the World Cup group draw by paying tribute to the president, with his favorite singers and songs, on the stage chosen by Trump (the Kennedy Center, renamed by him as the Kennedy Trump Center). They even awarded him a blush-inducing FIFA Peace Award to the man who was ordering boats to sink in the Caribbean and days later would attack Iran to compensate for not winning the Nobel Prize.
The problem with Trump is that it is never enough. His demand is absolute, constant. His interests are always top priority. And if to get what he wants, like the withdrawal of a red card, he has to burn bridges, twist rules, and leave others exposed, he does not hesitate. Regardless of the awards, compliments, previous servility. What matters to him is the next genuflection.