What perhaps remains unresolved, is how long the American electorate will allow Trump to reduce their country into a paranoia state, an empire of appalling tantrums and ragtag diplomacy.
From President Trump’s standpoint, a decline in the World Cup’s popularity due to Ronaldo’s absence would not be pleasant, and the same would be true for FIFA's.
The two men—the older one from glitzy Manhattan, the younger upstart from fashionably upmarket Brooklyn—have built formidable fanbases by championing diametrically opposed visions of America.