NATO leaders reportedly reached an informal pact to avoid discussing the US’s World Cup loss around Donald Trump. The quiet agreement, forged on the sidelines of a summit in Turkey, was designed to prevent the president from reacting angrily during critical defence talks. The diplomatic tightrope walk began just one day after Belgium knocked the United States out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a 4-1 win.
NATO leaders reportedly avoided talking about US World Cup
According to The Guardian, European leaders discussed on the summit’s margins how to guarantee Trump’s cooperation. The resulting strategy included an informal understanding that nobody would raise the World Cup result in his presence. The concern was that an irritated president might further destabilise the alliance with new threats over defence spending.
The effort to placate Trump extended beyond football. Leaders worked collectively to reassure him that member states are pulling their financial weight. They promoted a vision of “a stronger and more European NATO,” with each country on track to spend 5% of GDP on defence by 2035.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever gave the first open acknowledgment of the tactic. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, he confirmed he would not initiate any conversation about his country’s triumph. “Trump has the reputation of sometimes reacting a bit irritably to things that he doesn’t like, and I think this defeat will hit hard,” De Wever said.
The prime minister noted the awkward reality of the situation. “Everyone’s talking about one thing, and that is congratulations for the well-deserved victory of the Red Devils,” he remarked. “Of course, the losing party is also present. That also happens to be the biggest partner in NATO.”
Furthermore, De Wever turned a football metaphor into a geopolitical jab. While highlighting NATO’s pledge of €70 billion in military aid to Ukraine, he added, “This is also a very strong red card to Putin. You can’t just take back a red card. You know that.”
After all, Donald Trump himself had intervened days earlier to get a red card overturned.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
