While European leaders want to preserve the American security umbrella without subscribing to Trump’s ideological project, he demands that they adhere to a MAGA-fied global order yet offers little in return.
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.
For a nation founded on massacres of Native Americans and centuries-long African slave ownership, the lurch towards racism under Trump is not surprising.