FIFA Leases Trump Tower Office for 1 Year as Infantino Courts Trump Before World Cup
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 9
FIFA Leases Trump Tower Office for 1 Year as Infantino Courts Trump Before World Cup
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 9
Summary
FIFA has rented a 17th-floor office in Trump Tower for the past year, with the largely unused space sending rent to President Trump’s family business.
Gianni Infantino chose the lease as part of a broader effort to stay close to Trump—through visits, praise, trophies and public support—to keep the World Cup from being disrupted.
FIFA officials see Trump as pivotal because the tournament opens this week in the United States, where the body wants smoother operations, a bigger profile and faster commercial growth.
The outreach also reflects a strategic shift: Infantino failed to build ties with the Biden administration, but under Trump has become an Oval Office regular after years when soccer executives feared U.S. prosecutions.