J.D. Vance has welcomed foreign fans to soccer championships being staged in America—but said Tuesday that they’d better return home when the tournaments are over.
The debut World Club Championships are being played in the U.S. this year and the World Cup for national teams is being hosted the following summer.
Donald Trump hailed the events as a massive coup for America.
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But the vice president had a warning for the millions of fans from more than 100 countries expected to flood into the country to watch the cup competitions: don’t overstay your welcome.
“Of course everyone is welcome to come and see this wonderful event,” he said at a White House event on Tuesday. “We want them to come, we want them to celebrate, we want them to watch the games.
“But when the time is up we want them to go home, otherwise they will have to talk to Secretary Noem,” he added, referring to Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Secretary who was sitting next to him.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy doubled down on the message, encouraging supporters to take the opportunity to travel around America, but “don’t overstay your visas.”
Trump has appointed Andrew Giuliani, son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as executive director of his task force organizing the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In a Truth Social post, Trump also named Carlos Cordeiro, a FIFA senior advisor, as a task force senior advisor.
The United States, Canada and Mexico will host the World Cup in the summer of 2026.
This summer, cities across the country will also stage games between the best soccer clubs from different countries for the inaugural Club World Cup.
Trump said his son Barron was an ardent soccer fan and gives him a hard time for calling the sport “soccer” rather than “football,” which it is in much of the world. Barron also speaks Slovenian, which calls the sport “nogomet.”
“He’s a little tall for soccer but that’s okay,” said Trump. “He loves soccer.”
