This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Perhaps you detect a pattern here.

“FIFA Sparks World Cup Furor After Trump Intervenes Over U.S. Striker’s Red Card” - WSJ

Yes, there were legitimate gripes about Folarin Balogun’s red card, but the focus now will be on FIFA’s fawning cave to Trump.

The most stunning controversy of the 2026 World Cup erupted on Sunday after it emerged that President Trump personally intervened to have U.S. striker Folarin Balogun reinstated for the team’s round-of-16 game against Belgium following his red card in the previous round.

Trump called FIFA president Gianni Infantino last week, urging him to review Balogun’s automatic one-game suspension…

Daniel Drezner calls it, “The Perfect Sports Scandal.” and the outrage is international.

Needless to say, the Bosnians are pissed, the Belgians are pissed, the rest of Europe is pissed. Pretty much everyone outside of the U.S. now views the USMNT as the bad guys.

(Read his whole piece for a balanced and thorough discussion of the whole imbroglio.)

UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, issued a blistering condemnation, saying that FIFA had "crossed a red line" by flip-flopping on the red card.

“We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision,” UEFA said in a statement on Monday….

“When the certainty of rules is no longer guaranteed by its guardians, the integrity of the game is at stake and the credibility of a competition is undermined.”

But the move seems very much on-brand for both Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The NYT reminds us that, “Mr. Infantino has spent years trying to curry favor with Mr. Trump. Last year, FIFA created and gave Mr. Trump the FIFA Peace Prize amid the president’s public, but failed, campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Hard-core USA fans will undoubtedly be delighted by Balogun’s return (especially if the Team beats Belgium tonight), but Trump has (once again) enshittified what should have been a shining moment.

Perhaps you are detecting a pattern here.

(And an irony: the US player at the center of all of this, Folarin Balogun, is a birthright citizen.)¹

Happy Monday.

Coming up later today:

It May All Come Down to Michigan

ICYMI “McMorrow suspends Michigan Senate bid in shock move.”

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow announced Sunday that she is suspending her campaign for U.S. Senate, narrowing a marquee Democratic primary to a two-way race a month before Election Day.

• McMorrow’s withdrawal leaves moderate Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as the two Democratic hopefuls vying to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

You’ll recall that El-Sayed, the DSA-aligned candidate in the race, campaigned with far-left influencer Hasan Piker, and has refused to disavow Piker’s past comments. (“Hasan Piker Defends Hamas Support As Pod Save America Host Tries to Get Him to Disavow It.”)

His nomination would dramatically boost the chances the GOP will pick up the seat, which would doom any realistic chance that Democrats have to win control of the senate. But Politico reports that the DSA is all-in on the swing state,

DSA officials and allies told POLITICO they’ve already shifted organizers, volunteers and resources toward battleground Michigan and Wisconsin, where progressive Abdul El-Sayed is locked in a hotly contested Democratic primary for Michigan Senate and DSA-backed Francesca Hong is gaining steam in her primary for Wisconsin governor.

Both El-Sayed and Hong are planning a series of major rallies ahead of their primaries, and their campaigns and DSA organizers are currently discussing bringing many of the movement’s biggest stars — including recent winners from New York and Colorado — to generate attention and shore up the broader national effort. That will likely include a trip to Michigan for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who just made a major endorsement for El-Sayed.

**

Nota Bene: the DSA on Ukraine

While much of the DSA campaign has centered on opposition to Israel and support for Palestinian rights, it’s worth noting the party’s opposition to aid for Ukraine — which, in some ways, echoes the isolationism of the far-right.

This is consistent with the DSA position not only opposing aid to Ukraine, but our involvement in NATO as well. The party’s website calls for Russian withdrawal, but mirrors Kremlin talking points claiming, “the expansion of NATO and the aggressive approach of Western nations have helped cause the crisis and we demand an end to NATO expansion.”

We also oppose US and NATO military interventionism and the tens of billions in military aid and weapons shipments which only further exacerbates the war and undermine a negotiated settlement, as well as sanctions that will harm ordinary Russians.

The DSA also “reaffirms our call for the US to withdraw from NATO.”

In the past, El-Sayed has opposed U.S. military aid to Ukraine and Taiwan, and to other foreign militaries in general. In August 2025, he told Current Affairs that “our tax dollars should not be used to fund foreign militaries,” including Ukraine. He has since “clarified” his position, saying that he was not opposed to all military aid: “I’m talking about unconditional, blank check military aid,” El-Sayed said. “That’s what I oppose. When it comes to Ukraine, it’s a very different ball game. In Ukraine, we’re talking about enforcing the rules of the rules-based international order in accordance with our allies.”

**

Do Democrats Understand What's Happening to Them?

Meanwhile…

• Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine continues. Phillips O’Brien writes: “Last night Ukraine could not intercept a single Russian ballistic missile. The USA deliberately starving Ukraine of Patriot missiles is now clearly understood by the Russians as American support for their terror bombing. The USA is helping Putin kill Ukrainians.”

• Elon Musk celebrates America’s 250th by declaring:

  Anyone who doesn’t love America is a traitor and beneath contempt.
  Those who don’t love America, those who are disloyal should be exiled immediately.

• David Frum writes in the Atlantic: (Gift link) “What Trump’s July 4 Speech Revealed”

  To the extent the decision is up to Trump, the United States that his speech celebrated on July 4 will exist no more.

  Trump’s grotesque botch of the 250th anniversary of “We hold these truths” aptly demonstrates how far his leadership has already pushed the United States away from its noblest past.

  Americans may not wish to acknowledge what Trump has done to their standing in the world. Such denial does not change reality. Norma Desmond’s last lover—and doomed narrator—delivers a verdict on the fading star’s descent from delusion into madness: “The dream she had clung to so desperately had enfolded her.”

  Americans have not clung to their dream nearly desperately enough, but they too are now enfolded in something dark and diminished.

Monday dogs and other creatures

Our annual French Invasion — my daughter and grandsons — begins today.

1. Folarin Balogun was born on July 3, 2001, in Brooklyn, New York, while his Nigerian parents were visiting the United States. His mother, Florence Balogun, was in the late stages of pregnancy and was prevented from boarding a flight back to London, which led to his birth on U.S. soil.