Are you ready for Donald Trump’s new executive order? It’s on football

Dubai: US President Donald Trump has been signing a flurry of executive orders and pursuing international trade deals since starting his second term in the Oval Office. Now, he appears ready to target a new issue: renaming “soccer” to “football” in America.

In an interview with global sports streamer DAZN, aired on Monday during the final of the Fifa Club World Cup at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Trump said he was open to the idea.

“I think we can do that. I think I could do that,” Trump said with a laugh when asked if he might issue an executive order to rename the sport, according to several media reports. “They call it ‘football,’ but I guess we call it ‘soccer.’ That change could be made very easily. But it’s great to watch.”

The United States, along with Canada and Australia, is among the few countries that use the term “soccer,” while most of the world refers to the sport as “football.” The US also has its own version of football — the National Football League (NFL) — which shares some similarities with rugby.

Trump was also seen celebrating onstage with Chelsea players after their commanding 4-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain. The newly expanded Club World Cup brought top clubs from around the world to 12 venues across the US this summer. Chelsea’s victory reportedly earned them around £84 million (almost $113 million).

Chelsea captain Reece James reacted to Trump’s unexpected appearance at the trophy ceremony: “To be honest it was quite loud. I couldn’t hear too much. He just congratulated me and the team for lifting the trophy and told us to enjoy the moment.”

In a surprise twist, Trump revealed that the Club World Cup trophy featured in the Oval Office is staying there — and that Fifa made a duplicate to award Chelsea.

“I said, ‘When are you going to pick up the trophy?’ [They said,] ‘We’re never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one,’” Trump told DAZN. “And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting. But it is in the Oval [Office] right now.”

Fifa President Gianni Infantino, who attended the final alongside Trump and helped present the trophy, has yet to clarify whether the original trophy was indeed left behind or replaced.

The moment caps a growing relationship between Trump and Fifa, which began earlier this year when the president hosted Infantino at the White House to unveil the Club World Cup trophy.

Beyond renaming the sport, Trump emphasised the global power of football: “It’s about unity. It’s about everybody getting together and a lot of love between countries,” he said. “I guess this is probably the most international sport, so it can really bring the world together.”