President Donald Trump has shared footage of his hijacking of Spain’s World Cup victory celebrations—with a very strategic edit.
Trump, 80, spent last Sunday getting booed by fans at the World Cup final in New Jersey. His walk of shame across the MetLife Stadium saw the ambient crowd noise rise from 78 to 84 decibels once the booing kicked in, roughly the sound of a passing diesel truck.
He then attempted to photobomb Spain as they assembled on the winner’s podium. After presenting a trophy to Spanish captain Rodri, Trump stayed on the stage as the team celebrated their victory, and loitered next to the players.
At one point, his friend, FIFA boss Gianni Infantino, ran across the stage to move Trump out of the way as cameras attempted to capture the traditional money shot of the winning team celebrating.
During a Tuesday self-soothing Truth Social posting spree, Trump shared a video clip of himself from Sunday walking to the winners’ podium, handing a trophy to Rodri and shaking hands with players.
However, Trump’s 24-second Truth Social video of the celebrations crucially concludes before Infantino’s intervention.
It also removes the awkward footage of the president still standing on the side of the stage as confetti cannons exploded, and instead ends just before the cameras zoomed in on the winning team, instead of him.
Trump’s face-saving edit of his presidential stage invasion comes days after Spain’s official national team account shared photos and videos of the trophy lift—including a tight crop with the U.S. president not visible.
The official FIFA account also posted a picture of Spain’s trophy lift that cropped the president out.
The idea of removing Trump from the victory footage was floated in real time on Sunday when an Australian soccer commentator was heard on a hot mic saying, “They can edit him out of that,” as images of Trump still lingering next to the team aired globally.
Trump putting himself and Infantino in his Truth Social feed comes on the same day as the U.S. president is pitching the FIFA president for a plum new job.
Sources tell the New York Post Trump wants Infantino, 56, to be elected as the next secretary-general of the United Nations.
Trump believes that Infantino “is respected by everyone around the world, and recognizes he has a special ability to bring people together,” a source close to the president told the Post.
The U.N. General Assembly will elect a new secretary-general this year when António Guterres, who has served as U.N chief since 2017, steps down.
Infantino created a “FIFA Peace Prize” that he presented to the president to placate him after he failed to secure the Nobel Peace Prize he had pined for.
At the time, White House spokesman Davis Ingle said: “There is no one else in the world more deserving of FIFA’s first-ever Peace Prize than President Trump. Anyone who thinks otherwise clearly suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
