Legends graced the red carpet at the John F. Kennedy Center, but it was U.S. President Donald Trump who drew the most attention during the FIFA World Cup draw event. Walking alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Trump took his seat among the distinguished guests. Shortly after a musical performance and Infantino’s opening remarks, Trump was formally awarded the FIFA Peace Prize.
Trump placed the medal around his own neck as Infantino stood beside him and read aloud a portion of the award’s official citation.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,” 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒆. 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 “𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆” 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒋𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒔. “𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔… 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒏,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Why FIFA Introduced This New Peace Award
FIFA announced earlier this year that it would begin awarding the FIFA Peace Prize to honor extraordinary contributions to peace and unity across the globe. The recognition, meant to represent the voice of over five billion football fans worldwide, was presented at the draw venue—located just minutes from the White House—inside the Kennedy Center, where Trump serves as board chair.
Questions have emerged regarding the purpose of the award, especially since Infantino publicly defended Trump just before the announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. A day before the Nobel results were revealed—which named Venezuelan leader Maria Corina Machado as the recipient—Infantino wrote on Instagram that Trump “definitely deserves the peace prize.”
Many observers believe the FIFA Peace Prize served as a symbolic consolation, given that Trump was not selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nonetheless, the newly created honor provided Trump with notable recognition during a global sporting spectacle.
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