Sports
Donald Trump Sends Threat to Two Qualified Nations
United States President Donald Trump has issued threats to two nations who have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, following the strikes on Venezuela last week.
The US launched an attack on the South American country on Saturday, killing at least 80 people and capturing the nation’s President, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. Trump blamed the country’s regime for hundreds of thousands of immigrants arriving in the US, stating that Maduro is responsible for “emptying his prisons and insane asylums,” and has also stated that they are to blame for drugs arriving in the country.
Maduro has since appeared in a New York court, where he has been charged with multiple drug and gun charges. Trump has also said that the US will “run” Venezuela in the meantime, including the nation’s oil trade, “until we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
Donald Trump Could Now Ban Players From 2026 World Cup Nation From Entering US
One of the 19 countries on Trump’s “travel ban” list could face heavier sanctions than any other nation.
Trump Issues Threat Against Two 2026 World Cup Nations
Despite tensions still being high in Venezuela, Trump has seemingly provoked more countries with new comments. Two of whom have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, which is set to take place across Canada, the United States and Mexico.
The President appeared to take aim at Colombia first, describing how the country is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.” The South American country’s President, Gustavo Petro, is already under sanctions which have been imposed by the United States government, having been accused of involvement in the global drug trade.
Trump, when speaking about Petro, added: “He’s not going to be doing it for very long. He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories. He’s not going to be doing it.” And when asked whether the US might conduct an operation against Colombia, he stated:
Moving on to then insist that Cuba’s economy was “going down for the count,” Trump then turned his attention to Mexico, who are set to co-host next summer’s tournament. He stated that the country needed to do better at dealing with drug trafficking in the country, saying: “You have to do something with Mexico. Mexico has to get their act together.”
The President added that he had offered to send troops to Mexico to assist President Claudia Sheinbaum, but also said, “unfortunately, the cartels are very strong in Mexico.”
Trump’s comments are just the latest controversy ahead of the summer’s World Cup, with multiple qualified nations on a Travel Ban list issued in 2025. A new decree issued in December included both Senegal and Ivory Coast, which would prevent supporters from both nations from entering the United States.
FIFA Refuse to Respond to Venezuela Attack
Trump’s strike against Venezuela has received widespread condemnation since Saturday from across the world. A joint statement was issued by Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain on Sunday, while the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said that he was, “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”
However, FIFA have not condemned the United States’ actions, which came less than a month after it controversially presented Trump with its peace prize. A report from The Telegraph said that they had contacted world football’s governing body three times before they were told that the organisation would not be responding to the strikes.
