Juventus star Timothy Weah has slammed a meeting with US President Donald Trump as ‘weird’ and claims he was forced to attend along with his team-mates. Players from the Italian side’s Club World Cup squad awkwardly stood behind Trump in the Oval Office as he addressed the Israel-Iran conflict and the US Civil War before asking Juve’s players whether a woman would get into their team.
Weah and his USA team-mate Weston McKennie were among Juve’s entourage in the Oval Office. Dusan Vlahovic, Manuel Locatelli, Teun Koopmeiners, Federico Gatti and head coach Igor Tudor were also in attendance with members of the club’s hierarchy. Controversial FIFA president Gianni Infantino was also in the room. Infantino presented the President with a Club World Cup shirt and then said that Juve’s game in DC on Wednesday evening had “sold out”, despite tickets still being available and the official attendance being below the stadium’s capacity.
Trump invited questions about the Club World Cup from the media, but journalists were only keen to hear his thoughts on political issues. In surreal scenes, Juve’s players stood in the background as the 78-year-old discussed conflict in the Middle East. Overnight, an Israeli hospital was damaged during Iranian strikes and Trump warned that “anything could happen”, including the fall of the Iranian government.
“It was all a surprise to me, honestly — they told us that we have to go and I had no choice but to go,” Weah said after Juventus defeated Al Ain 5-0 on Wednesday. “I was caught by surprise, honestly. It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it’s kind of like, I just want to play football man.”
Trump called Weah and McKennie to step forward, telling the assembled media: “We have two great American players. Where are you, my American players?” He shook their hands and added: “Fantastic, so good luck. I hope you’re going to be the best two players on the field.”
In 2020, outspoken midfielder McKennie accused Trump of failing to “understand the responsibility” he had towards the US. The 26-year-old called him “ignorant” and implied that he was “racist”.
McKennie said at the time: “I don’t think that Trump is the right one for the job as the president. I stand by these words. I believe he doesn’t understand the responsibility he has for the entire country. I think he’s ignorant. I don’t support him a bit. I don’t think he’s a man to stand by his word. In my eyes, you can call him racist.”
In another toe-curling exchange, Trump turned to the Juve players and asked them if a woman could get into their team. General manager Damien Comolli responded that the club had a very good women’s team, who are the reigning Italian champions.
“But they should be playing with women,” Trump insisted. It comes four months after he signed an executive order, named Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports, which made it the policy of the government to oppose the participation of transgender women in women’s sports.