President Donald Trump is having a rough year.
His 80th birthday bash on the White House lawn, “Freedom 250,” drew lawsuits and mockery over the giant steel “Claw” structure built on the South Lawn.
Then his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, renovated ahead of the event, started peeling and turning green with algae within weeks.
Trump blamed “vandals,” but fact-checkers and experts pointed instead to the renovation itself.
Despite it all, Trump doesn’t seem rattled. He’s brushed off the criticism, denied any tension, and moved on to the next headline.
Then comes the World Cup fiasco. Trump crashes Spain’s celebration. He won’t leave the stage. The White House scrambles to spin it before the day even ends.
And it’s becoming increasingly clear that even FIFA President Gianni Infantino is losing patience with his ally.
FIFA and Spain’s football federation quietly cropped Trump out of their victory photos after Sunday’s 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina.
After FIFA erased Trump from its social media photos, the White House fired back, posting Trump-centered images at MetLife Stadium.
Team Spain shared a series of social media posts, including a 20-slide celebration recap.
Trump was left out entirely. The FIFA World Cup account’s version of the shot showed only the edge of his shoulder.
Champions.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/h7BTVx8R6A
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 19, 2026
By Monday afternoon, the White House had pushed back with six pictures of its own, all featuring Trump.
Two images show the president as the sole focus of the evening. Only two include the Spanish team at all.
FIFA and the White House battled for control of the narrative, leaving Spain’s players caught in the middle as Infantino struggled to manage the spectacle.
An EPIC @FIFAWorldCup in America comes to a close with President Donald J. Trump crowning the champions.
The world came to watch, and America delivered. See you next time, FIFA ?
pic.twitter.com/JodpCRHxAY
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 20, 2026
Footage from the trophy ceremony showed Infantino giving Trump a pat on the back. It was a signal it was time to clear the stage, but those cues were ignored.
Instead, Trump wandered over, looking lost and confused about where he was. He then planted himself in front of the celebrating Spanish players just as they prepared to lift the trophy.
Infantino walked, and when he turned back around, he realized Trump was still on stage. He then broke into a frantic, exasperated smile before sprinting back to pull Trump aside a second time.
Typical Trump slipped back into the shot with the winning team just as the confetti cannons fired.
Video of the moment shows several Spanish players politely pushing him away before setting up the team photo. And then there’s Trump lingering anyway until the trophy was fully lifted.
— Joseph Benn (@skygod1956) July 20, 2026
Infantino managed to have this exact problem last year at the Club World Cup final. He had to physically move out of frame while Trump stayed locked in place as Chelsea lifted the trophy.
Chelsea captain Reece James said afterward he’d been told Trump would “present the trophy, and then exit the stage.”
Midfielder Cole Palmer said he was simply “a bit confused” by the whole thing.
Some players, like Lamine Yamal, didn’t even shake his hand when Trump extended it.
Respect to Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal for rejecting Trump’s hand. Several players snubbed unwanted gatecrasher and war criminal Trump at the World Cup medals ceremony. https://t.co/sxfSkz9EWL pic.twitter.com/mhUPy3Uylm
— tim anderson (@timand2037) July 20, 2026
Infantino tried the same approach twice, got the same result twice, and only reinforced the perception that he has run out of ways to manage his most high-profile guest.
Sunday’s finale delivered chaos well beyond the photo scrubbing.
Trump was booed loudly both when his face flashed on the stadium screen before kickoff and again when he walked onto the field for the ceremony. Jeers, commentators said, were louder than the reaction to Jennifer Hudson’s national anthem.
Cameras caught a Spanish player mimicking Trump’s signature “Y.M.C.A.” dance while Trump stood on the dais.
During a hot mic moment, an Australian broadcaster foreknew the snub before it even happened — FIFA and Spain’s federation scrubbed him from their posts.
The tension wasn’t new. Trump had spent weeks blasting Spain and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over NATO defense spending and Spain’s refusal to assist in the Israeli-U.S. war of aggression on Iran, calling the country “hopeless” and threatening to “cut off all trade.”
None of that hostility showed on Monday.
Back at Joint Base Andrews, Trump brushed off any tension. He told the press that he’d “spoken to Spain” and “congratulated them on having a great team.”
I have no tension with anybody,” he alleged. Online, nobody was buying the calm.
MSN commenters tore into him, with one writing, “Pathetic. An overgrown child coddled and encouraged by a claque of gutless pukes.” Another posted, “Cropped out of the picture because he has outlived his usefulness. Now he knows how his donors feel.”
— Scott Weidig (@Scott_Weidig) July 20, 2026
Facebook users were just as blunt.
“Good I can’t stand him,” one wrote. Another added, “He had no business being there.” A third didn’t hold back: “Good! TRUMP IS A COMPLETE NARCISSIST. THIS SHOULD HAVE TRUMP THROWING KETCHUP AGAINST THE WALLS!”
One more wrote, “He has no sense of what is appropriate. All about himself,” while another said, “I don’t what is wrong with him always trying to spoil people joy.” A final commenter summed it up: “Can we crop him out of the presidency and into jail?”
For now, the White House’s Monday photo dump reads as exactly what it is. A direct rebuttal to a snub the rest of the world has already decided to remember without him.
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