FOXBORO, Mass. (WPRI) — Massachusetts leaders are responding to President Trump’s claims on Tuesday that he could remove World Cup games from the state over “unsafe conditions.”
Boston is a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with seven games set to be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
Trump, on Tuesday, cited the so-called “street takeovers” that occurred in several Massachusetts cities earlier this month as a cause of concern.
Trump claimed he loves the people of Boston, but said Mayor Michelle Wu is “not good.”
“I think she is hurting Boston. If somebody is doing a bad job and if I feel there are unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal, and I would say, ‘Let’s move it to another location.’ And he would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily. He’d do it, and this is the right time to do it,” Trump said.
“Boston better clean up their act. That’s all I can say.”
Wu responded Tuesday night in a public statement, though she did not mention Trump’s name.
“Boston is honored and excited to host World Cup matches, and we look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to our beautiful city, the cradle of liberty and city of champions.”
Massachusetts Sen. Paul Feeney (D), meanwhile, responded with a post on X directly calling out the president.
“Absurd but not surprising,” Feeney wrote. “The MOST unsafe thing #CaptainChaos could do is move the games to an unprepared city. Public safety agencies in #Foxborough #Boston & MA have been planning for years along with Fed partners. More of the same from DJT- Petty Politics over Common Sense.”
World Cup host sites are not up to Trump, and he was reminded of that earlier this month at a sports business conference in London.
“It’s FIFA’s tournament, FIFA’s jurisdiction, FIFA makes those decisions,” the soccer body’s vice president Victor Montagliani said at the conference.
The 11 host cities in the United States, along with three in Mexico and two in Canada, are contracted with FIFA, which would face significant logistical and legal issues to make changes in the eight months before the June 11 kickoff.
Trump also said Tuesday he would consider moving the summer Olympics out of Los Angeles, which is scheduled for July 2028.
