The mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, implied the city was ready for a face-off with the US president Donald Trump over his claim he could order Fifa to remove World Cup games from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, 22 miles south-west of the city.
Wu appeared on local podcast “Java with Jimmy” on Wednesday to respond to Tuesday’s criticism from the White House, which labeled the Democrat as “radical left”. Trump threatened he would make a call to the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, if Boston did not “clean up its act”.
“Much of it is locked down by contract so that no single person, even if they live in the White House currently, can undo it,” Wu said. “We’re in a world where for drama, for control, for pushing the boundaries … ongoing threats … are issued to individuals and communities who refuse to back down and comply or be obedient to a hateful agenda.
“We are going to continue to be who we are and that means, unfortunately, we are going to be in a conversation in a way that is targeting Boston’s values,” Wu added. “Ten toes down for Boston.”
Infantino appeared in photographs alongside Trump at the Gaza summit earlier this week. The Fifa president has also visited the Oval Office and presented World Cup and Club World Cup trophies to Trump as gifts.
On Tuesday, Trump was asked about recent disturbances in South Boston that included a police vehicle being set on fire. “If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni [Infantino] – the head of Fifa, who’s phenomenal,” Trump replied.
“I would say: ‘Let’s move into another location’ and they would do that. He wouldn’t love to do it. But he would do it very easily.” Trump also directly criticised Wu, saying: “Their mayor is not good … she’s radical left, and they’re taking over parts of Boston. That’s a pretty big statement, right?”
Trump has made previous comments suggesting he would take up the same conversation with Infantino about moving games from Seattle and San Francisco, which are among the 16 host cities across North America.
In a statement released to Politico and other news outlets on Wednesday, Fifa said: “Safety and security are of the utmost importance at all Fifa events worldwide and it is ultimately the government’s responsibility to decide what’s in the best interest of public safety. We hope every one of our 16 host cities will be ready to fulfil all necessary requirements for a successful 2026 World Cup.”
The United States are joint hosts of the 2026 World Cup, alongside Mexico and Canada. The 48-team event is scheduled to be played from 11 June to 19 July next summer.
