The Italian soccer club Juventus went to the White House to promote their upcoming match in the ongoing Club World Cup FIFA tournament happening across the U.S., but it soon became very awkward — and, as one of the players termed it, “weird” — when Trump suddenly asked them how they would react if a woman played for their team.
The FIFA tournament has really been struggling to sell tickets and has been trying to pull out all the stops to increase awareness and interest. But although Trump tends to demand credit for bringing the upcoming World Cup to North America, he’s also quite literally their biggest stumbling block at the moment. First, it was his administration posting on social media that they planned on using ICE as “security” in stadiums and asking some fans to bring documents to prove they’re in the country legally.
Just when it seemed like he had hit rock bottom and couldn’t possibly do worse during the scheduled welcoming of the Juventus team, he suddenly veered into criticizing American governors and ranting about what he calls the “transgender for everybody” phenomenon. He then asked the players if a woman could play on their team — to which they looked around in bewilderment. When he asked the General Manager, a surprised Damien Comolli diplomatically responded that they have a very good women’s team.
Trump asks the Juventus players standing behind him if women could make their team and tries to bait them into endorsing his transphobia pic.twitter.com/cJymDAmcSd
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2025
According to The Guardian, one of the Juventus players, Timothy Weah — who also happens to be American — was asked how he responded to the awkward moment. Weah said, “It was weird. I was caught by surprise, honestly, when he started talking politics, with Iran and everything. I was kind of like, I just want to play football… They just told us that we have to go, and I had no choice but to go. So I guess it was a cool experience, obviously being in the White House as a first time, it’s always wonderful. But I’m not one for the politics, so it wasn’t that exciting.”
One user on X expressed exhaustion at how everything within the MAGA world has to be a culture war, regardless of the topic at hand. Trump’s administration has been awful in its handling of LGBT+ issues — they even recently disbanded its much-needed suicide prevention hotline. That in itself is worth discussing, but the point of a global sport like soccer is to give people a platform to share joy and grief together in a lower-stakes environment, so that we can all see the humanity in each other. It’s truly not the time or place for Trump to discuss his war plans with Iran or his views on trans women.
Everything is a culture war to MAGA
— Lib Dunk (@libdunkmedia) June 18, 2025
The Donald Trump administration will be terminating the national LGBTQ+ suicide prevention hotline. pic.twitter.com/Eie24GwN3w
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) June 18, 2025
The players left the White House feeling uncomfortable and went on to their match with their goal not achieved. They say all attention is good attention, but this seems to be the exception that proves the rule. This is the type of stunt he should pull with Kid Rock — not Italian players.
The Club World Cup is still ongoing in most major cities across America. I suppose we’ll promote it, if the president won’t.
