Trump participated in the medal ceremony for both teams after Sunday’s final and refused to leave the stage when Spain was about to lift the World Cup trophy and celebrate. In the official photos, he is edited out.
A professional reader of lip movements claims that US President Donald Trump said the same thing to every single player when he presented the World Cup medals.
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Spain extended their unbeaten streak to 38 games – the longest international streak in history – at the MetLife Stadium, when Ferran Torres’ 106th-minute goal was enough to secure victory against Argentina.
After Sunday’s final whistle, Trump participated in the medal ceremony together with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Here’s What Trump Said
The 80-year-old president greeted every single player on stage with a handshake. He then exchanged a few words with the player before either handing over the medal or patting them on the chest.
What did Trump say to each individual? According to professional lip reader Nicola Hickling, he said, “You are a champ” – and then added, “Amazing player.”
Argentine player refused to shake Trump’s hand
All but one player shook Trump’s hand. As you can see in the video below, Argentina defender Cristian Romero – who started the final but had to go off in the 70th minute with injury – chose to ignore the gesture completely.
In fact, Romero can be seen shaking hands with both Infantino and Sheinbaum, but he apparently refrained from greeting the US president and walked right past him.
Spanish striker has criticized Trump in the past
One who seemed hesitant to greet was Spain’s striker Borja Iglesias, who admittedly shook Trump’s hand – but without looking at the president.
Iglesias has previously criticized Trump for “struggling with fundamental values”.
“There is a protocol and an obligation to fulfill out of courtesy, even if what my gut feeling tells me is different than what I should be doing,” he said before the game.
“I like people who are fighting for progress and for fundamental values to be upheld – and I think Trump is struggling with that.
“I don’t want to go to jail,” Iglesias added, according to The Mirror. “I hope to say hello to him in a moment when we are all very happy, and that it passes quickly so I can forget about it.
“I don’t think this is the time to create controversy. People know very well what I mean. I would like to do a lot, but the reality is that even though people think I’m almighty, I don’t have much power to handle certain things.
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Before kick-off, Iglesias posted a photo on Instagram of the seating plan at MetLife Stadium with ticket prices – and captioned it “Una Verguenza” – which means “A shame” in Norwegian.
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