Former U.S. President Donald Trump has stirred controversy with a bold claim that the FIFA Club World Cup trophy, recently won by Chelsea, is now permanently housed in the Oval Office.
Trump, who attended the tournament’s final alongside members of his cabinet and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, asserted during an interview with DAZN that Chelsea never took the original trophy back to London. Instead, he said, a replica was made for the club while the original remains in Washington, D.C.
“I said, When are you going to pick up the trophy? [They said] ‘We’re never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one,’” Trump claimed. “And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting, but it is in the Oval [Office] right now.”
His comments have raised eyebrows, especially as footage from the post-match ceremony showed Trump handing the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James alongside Infantino—though the former president’s presence appeared to catch players off guard.
Trump’s increasing visibility in FIFA-related events has become notable since the start of his second term. In March, Infantino reportedly presented the Club World Cup trophy at the White House, where it has since been displayed.
The former president also used the DAZN interview to float the idea of renaming “soccer” as “football” in the United States and touted America as “the hottest country in the world” economically and politically. He described international football as a unifying force: “It’s about unity… a lot of love between countries.”
Neither Chelsea nor FIFA has officially responded to Trump’s claims about the trophy’s whereabouts.
