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How will Trump's return to US presidency affect sports?

January 24, 2025

The world's biggest sporting events — the World Cup and Olympics — will be held in the US during Donald Trump's second term. DW looks at how that could affect those events, as well as other sports and athletes.

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Donald Trump holds up a soccer shirt with his name on in the Oval Office, while Gianni Infantino looks on
FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump appear to enjoy a close relationship Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As soon as he took office on January 20, Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders. None directly addressed sports, but some will undoubtedly affect them. Here is a look at how that might play out.

Wrestling

Though not outwardly a traditional sports fan, Trump was reportedly a big fan of the showbusiness stylings of wrestling in his childhood. And in 1988 and 1989, Trump Plaza brought back-to-back WrestleMania events to Atlantic City.

In 2007, he took the stage as he sharpened his entertainment profile, engaging in a storyline with WWE supremo Vince McMahon dubbed the "Battle of the Billionaires" that concluded with a victorious Trump shaving McMahon's head in the ring. Trump is also in the sport's hall of fame.

The rhetoric and showmanship so familiar from his political career were noticeable even then. Now, Trump has benefited from high-profile endorsements from wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. And McMahon's estranged wife, Linda McMahon, is Trump's nominee for education secretary. Given Trump's loyalty to those who back him, WWE should be in a good spot.

UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship boss Dana White was one of Trump's biggest cheerleaders in the 2024 campaign. As with wrestling, Trump backed the combat sport, and its founder White, as early as 2001. It seems to have paid off. UFC has grown enormously in the last decade and has a huge, largely male, fan base that marries well with voters Trump needed.

"President Trump is a fighter. I've been saying this since 2015," White said, when introducing Trump at the 2024 Republican National Convention. "I'm in the tough-guy business, and this man is the toughest, most resilient human being that I've ever met in my life."

Dana White speaks in to a microphone while Donald Trump looks on
Dana White and Donald Trump have a relationship that spans decadesImage: Alex Brandon/AP Photo/picture alliance

UFC fighters have consistently backed Trump and the values he aligns himself with, and the influence on UFC fans is likely to have helped the incoming president's cause. Though White has said he is done with politics, his appointment to the board of Meta solidifies that organization's ties with the Trump government and allows it greater access to promotion of its brand. 

Soccer

Awarded during Trump's first term, the 2026 World Cup will be held mostly in the United States, with neighbors Mexico and Canada also hosting soccer matches. FIFA, through President Gianni Infantino, has long cozied up to Trump. Back in 2018, Infantino called Trump "part of the FIFA team" and congratulated him after his 2024 win, calling him "my great friend."

In theory, Trump's general disregard for international human rights standards should bring him into conflict with an organization with a stated commitment to uphold those rights. In practice, FIFA follows the money, hence the uncontested awarding of the 2034 tournament to Saudi Arabia. Given that decision and Trump's grandstanding style, there is a significant chance he will use the focus of the 2026 World Cup to promote his government's worldview, at the expense of those who do not fit within it.

Relations with the co-hosts may prove fraught, too. An early Trump executive order to assign illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border as a national emergency has already caused some friction. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not directly criticize Trump's decision, but cautioned that "we have to behave as equals, never subordinate. Defend our sovereignty, our independence and defend Mexicans."

Trump's preelection suggestion that the United States could absorb Canada has not yet been set it motion, and he has resisted mooted 25% import duties on Canada and Mexico for now, though said he has also said they might happen on February 1. "If the president does choose to proceed with tariffs, Canada will respond — and everything is on the table," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday. 

Incoming President Donald Trump threatens to change the map

Olympics

That is also the fear for the Olympics, which are scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028. From the Nazi Games in

Berlin in 1936, through to the soft power, sportswashing exercises of recent Olympics in Russia and China, the biggest sports show on Earth has long been used by leaders as a shop window for what they want the world to see.

Trump has been quick to claim credit for securing the 2028 Games, but the International Olympic Committee has not been as fawning in its praise for him as FIFA, with a congratulatory social media post notable by its absence after his election. LA is a Democrat-leaning city, which could well lead to friction, and the stated aim of the Olympic movement to be inclusive seems to jar with Trump's more conservative policies.

As with the World Cup, Trump's controversial positions on, well, just about anything, may divide sponsors.

Transgender athletes

One such clash may well be played out in the treatment of transgender athletes. Trump falsely labeled two female Olympic champion boxers as men during the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, and pledged to " keep men out of women's sports." He signed an executive order on the first day of his new administration that means the US government will only recognize two genders.

Trump declares US to only recognize two genders

At a national and regional level, this will likely mean that transgender athletes can only compete in the male or female sex category under which they are officially assigned in the United States.

On the international scale, the IOC, for its part, has largely passed the buck on to the individual sports. In theory, that means transgender athletes could be selected to compete in LA in 2028, while other global sports are not bound by US government decisions. But would Trump want to allow trans athletes to compete at the Olympics or World Cup in his country while the world is watching? And is there anything he could do about it?

Golf

Despite his ties to combat sports, it is golf that appears to be closest to Trump's heart. As usual, both business and politics are at play in his relationship with the sport. He owns 17 golf courses, after buying his first in 1999. He plays regularly and claims to have won 18 club championships, which would make him a top-level amateur player. Such claims have been consistently disputed.

But Trump may well find himself at the center of the great divide in a sport that is particularly favored by the wealthy. Since the introduction of the Saudi-Arabia backed LIV Golf in 2022, the sport has been split, with many top players joining LIV for huge sums of money. There's been talk of the two rival tours coming closer together. World No. 3 Rory McIlroy recently suggested Trump could be the man to close the gap. 

"Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He's got a great relationship with golf," he said. "He's a lover of golf. So maybe. Who knows?"

Donald Trump poses in MAGA hat after hitting a golf shot
Trump is a keen golfer, but he may exaggerate his abilityImage: Mike Stobe/Getty Images

The opportunity to boast of sealing a deal and "saving" a sport, while strengthening ties with a key US ally, could well be right up Trump's street.

American football and basketball

Trump's interest in America's biggest team sports is less pronounced than in golf, wrestling or WWE. But the "Taking the Knee" debate during his first term illustrates the value he sees in using them to drive political issues. At the time, Trump called on the National Football League to fire players who protested during the national anthem, and then called the National Basketball Association "highly political."

Football and basketball are the most watched sports in the United States and have significant cultural power, as well. Trump has previously shown that he is willing to insert himself into the conversations surrounding the sports, even when that means contradicting the players or the leagues — convinced that their massive fan bases will ultimately side with him. But will he try again? 

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Edited by: Chuck Penfold