00:00President Donald Trump is expressing astonishment at the TV ratings for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
00:05and confirming that he personally intervened to help overturn a suspension for one of U.S.
00:11soccer's star players, allowing him to return to the pitch for tonight's match against Belgium.
00:16The game is expected to do huge numbers for Fox Sports,
00:19and the controversial red card against U.S. striker Falarin Baligan last week threatened
00:24to overshadow things. That is until Trump called FIFA chief Gianni Infantino,
00:28leading FIFA to suspend the red card decision, thus allowing Baligan to compete tonight.
00:34Trump said at an Oval Office event Monday morning to promote his Trump Accounts initiative,
00:38I did. I spoke to Gianni, who's highly respected, who's produced the most successful World Cup in
00:43history. So yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. He added that he watched the play and thought,
00:48quote, that wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash
00:53into each other, thus sparking the decision to call Infantino and request a review.
00:57Trump also used the moment to tout the ratings for the World Cup. He said,
01:01This isn't just a success. I actually said, Gianni, we've got all these games. Each one is
01:06turning out to be a Super Bowl. It's not our main sport, to put it mildly, and this has been
01:11four
01:11times more successful. He told me last night the numbers are four times greater. They think 50 or 60
01:17million people are going to be watching the game tonight. Indeed, the ratings have been massive.
01:21According to preliminary Nielsen numbers, last week's U.S. match against Bosnia and Herzegovina
01:26averaged 24.43 million viewers for Fox, which holds English-language rights, making it the biggest
01:33English-language TV audience ever for any soccer match in the United States. Telemundo and Peacock,
01:39which hold Spanish-language rights, drew an additional 9.1 million viewers for the Spanish-language
01:44telecast of the match. For more on this story, go to THR.com. This is The Hollywood Reporter News.
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