Donald Trump touches down at MetLife Stadium for Club World Cup final… exactly a year on from Butler assassination attempt
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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump touched down at MetLife Stadium on Sunday for the Club World Cup final between Chelsea and PSG.
Roughly 35 minutes before kickoff, Trump’s Marine One helicopter was seen touching down near the stadium for the game, and when he surfaced inside the stadium loud cheers could be heard from the 80,000 in attendance.
The chopper arrived at Teterboro Airport after Trump and his wife had traveled from their golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey for the inaugural championship match of the newly-expanded tournament in East Rutherford.
In video from the White House’s Rapid Response account, Trump could be seen stepping down from the helicopter before getting inside a motorcade.
Trump’s son, Donald Jr. and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson were also seen headed to the game, and they shared a kiss on the runway as they waited for the president to arrive.
The outing falls on the first anniversary of the assassination attempt Trump survived in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, and significant security measures were put in place for his arrival.
President Donald Trump is seen alongside first lady Melania Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the game
Trump and Melania waved to the crowd ahead of the game on Sunday in East Rutherford
The president salutes the crowd as the national anthem rings around MetLife in New Jersey
Trump got off of his helicopter at Teterboro Airport before getting into a motorcade
As detailed in The Athletic, secret service officials worked with organizers to put together a travel route to the venue, and it was believed he would be behind a pane of bulletproof glass at the game.
Trump was seen watching the game with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, while New York Jets’ and incoming Crystal Palace owner Woody Johnson was also spotted nearby.
Reporting from before the game also suggested Trump would sit with PSG and Chelsea officials, as well as Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar and previous owner of the Boeing 747-8 jet Trump controversially accepted as a gift.
The president, 79, was put on screen at MetLife during the singing of the national anthem prior to the game, and reports emerged from the stadium that he was booed before the stadium camera cut away from him.
Trump was loudly applauded as he arrived in the VIP suite ahead of the Chelsea-PSG game
Don Jr and his girlfriend Bettina Anderson shared a passionate kiss on the runway pregame
In the VIP suite, Trump spoke with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and other big names
Trump is also expected to conduct some business at the game, as his Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters that he would meet with senior Qatari officials on the sidelines to discuss a ceasefire in Gaza.
Additionally, Trump is expected to be part of the trophy presentation after the game, which further complicates the required security around the American Commander-in-Chief.
‘When you do the threat and risk assessment, you cover anything that could go wrong: if they were at a mass gathering, what if the stage collapsed?’ Nigel Thomas, a former British Special Air Service (SAS) soldier and founder of security training firm, Blue Mountain Group, told The Athletic.
‘We will have a standard operating procedure for that, for example. You need to be prepared for it, and that takes communication with stadium security and emergency services.’
Sunday’s final is the one-year anniversary of the assassination attempt Trump survived
Marine One, the helicopter of US President Trump, is seen flying over MetLife Stadim
Anderson, Don Jr. and U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff walk on the tarmac
For the game itself, Donald and Melania sat with FIFA president Infantino and his wife Leena
The World Cup Final next summer will also be hosted at MetLife Stadium.
The president has enjoyed a friendly relationship with Infantino, and FIFA actually opened up a new office in Manhattan’s Trump Tower this week.
Since he took office for a second time this year, Trump has visited several sporting events – including the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
He’s also attended the Daytona 500 in Florida, UFC fights in Miami and Newark, New Jersey, and the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia.
While Trump has yet to attend a Club World Cup match ahead of the final, Vice President J.D. Vance was on hand when Borussia Dortmund took on Ulsan HD in Cincinnati. And the strict security measures were certainly felt in that case.
‘We were checked by strict security,’ Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac told assembled reporters.’
‘When we left the hotel, we were given a sniff test by a dog. When we got into the stadium, someone came onto the bus with another dog. That’s completely normal. It’s a World Cup. They are high-level people, so I think it’s normal, but it was relatively tight.’
Cole Palmer scored two first-half goals to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead against Paris Saint-Germain
Palmer does his signature ‘cold’ celebration alongside new teammate Joao Pedro
Sunday’s final will see reigning Champions League winners PSG face English giants Chelsea, who were last crowned winners of Europe in 2021.
PSG have gotten past a gauntlet of opponents this summer to reach the championship match, beating the likes of Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way.
Their win over Los Blancos was particularly emphatic, as they beat the Spanish giants 4-0 on Wednesday in front of a packed MetLife crowd.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have beaten the likes of Benfica, Palmeiras and Fluminense in the knockout stages to reach the final.
