Trump uses World Cup to manipulate Putin

After unsuccessfully imploring Putin on Truth Social to halt his forwards against Ukraine in the midst of talks, Trump is now adopting a new stance, in the hope of convincing the Russian president to end the war triggered by his 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

This bizarre proposal from the President of the United States comes as he has been desperately trying for several weeks to reach a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

With pressure mounting around one of his campaign promises to end the war in Ukraine on his first day in the White House, Trump is now suggesting that Vladimir Putin might consider stopping his bloody forwards if Russia were to secure a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The country had in fact been suspended from competitions by FIFA and UEFA after its illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

While Donald Trump was, according to the New York Times, in discussion with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, he was reportedly surprised to learn that Russia was excluded from the World Cup and could not be reinstated until it ended its senseless aggression against Ukraine.

The President of the United States seems to be desperately looking for any leverage he can think of to bend Vladimir Putin, while all the Trump administration’s initiatives on this issue have so far ended in failure.

Vice President JD Vance has acknowledged that Russia is “asking too much” to end the war with Ukraine.

A form of frustration is now spreading through the ranks of the administration, which, after initially blaming Ukraine at the start of the talks, is beginning to admit that Moscow may bear a heavier share of responsibility for prolonging the conflict.

This content was created with the help of AI.