The White House has pushed back against FIFA’s apparent decision to crop Donald Trump out of Spain’s official World Cup celebration photos. It came just hours after photos shared by football’s governing body showed Spain’s team lifting the trophy with the president visibly missing from the frame. In response, the White House published its own selection of pictures, with Trump at the centre of the action.
White House posted Donald Trump’s photo with Spain football team
On Monday afternoon, the White House shared six photographs from the World Cup final across its social media channels. All six images prominently feature the president. Two of the pictures show Trump as the only person in focus. Meanwhile, just two of the six actually include members of Spain’s football squad.
The posts followed a series of Spain’s celebration photos from FIFA’s official accounts that were cropped to exclude Donald Trump. One photo capturing Spain’s players leaping in celebration shows only the edge of the president’s navy suit in one corner. The Spanish team’s own Instagram account also shared a triumphant photo immediately after the match that did not include Trump. Nor did a 20-slide post published later that evening featuring different players holding the trophy.
The cropping was already teased during a hot mic moment. Australian commentator Claudio Fabiano was caught on a hot mic during the broadcast saying, “They can edit him out of that.” This came as Trump and FIFA President Gianni Infantino stood near the celebrating Spanish side. After all, the trophy presentation itself was awkward.
The moment has been described as uncomfortable. Infantino apparently attempted to guide Trump away from the team as they lifted the trophy and confetti cannons fired. Before that, when Trump and Infantino appeared on screen and entered the field, they were met with audible boos from the crowd at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
