President Donald Trump criticizes FIFA referee Raphael Claus after U.S. forward Folarin Balogun red card

President Donald Trump on Monday criticized the FIFA referee who issued a red card to U.S. men’s soccer forward Folarin Balogun during the 2026 World Cup, calling the officiating “a little bit suspect” and urging reporters to “check his past.” The comments were made from the White House as the U.S. team faced the immediate consequence of the red card ruling being overturned days later, according to the reporting.

The White House remarks, as described by The Hill, centered on the decision by match referee Raphael Claus to show a red card to Balogun after a video review. The underlying incident, as characterized in the reports, involved Balogun stepping on the ankle of a player from Bosnia-Herzegovina during Wednesday’s match, and the red card was issued only after review suggested the play warranted dismissal.

Trump also described what he said was his involvement in seeking a change. The Hill reported that Trump said he asked FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review the call, and other outlets reported Trump said he “didn’t think it was a foul.” According to those accounts, Trump said he did not instruct FIFA on what the outcome must be, and that he argued the slowed-down video made the incident look worse than it appeared in real time.

The diplomatic and governance stakes of the episode are tied to FIFA’s rules on disciplinary decisions and the role of video assistant referee systems. In the description of events, FIFA announced on Sunday that Balogun’s red card was reversed, which made him eligible to play in the Round of 16 against Belgium on Monday night, removing the typical one-game suspension that would have followed a red-card dismissal.

In his remarks, Trump questioned the referee’s integrity, according to The Hill and other reports, citing past allegations. FIFA is responsible for managing officials and disciplinary processes within its competition structure, while the U.S. government has no formal role in FIFA match officiating. Still, the president’s comments drew attention to how public officials view the integrity of international sports adjudication and the transparency of officiating and review.

Trump’s comments arrived amid a broader dispute about the use and interpretation of video review in determining fouls and card severity. While the reporting describes an initial red-card decision and a subsequent reversal by FIFA, the exact disciplinary rationale attributed to FIFA’s internal review process was not included in the provided record, and an official FIFA statement was not provided in the materials reviewed here.

Because the president’s remarks and the sequence of events are being reported through secondary news accounts, and because no White House transcript, video, or Federal Register or other primary document was included in the material provided, the specific wording and the details of any “pressing” or direct communication should be treated as claims of the outlets until a primary record is confirmed. The next steps, based on the reporting’s timeline, are primarily sports-related: Belgium match availability and FIFA’s handling of officiating concerns if additional questions are raised publicly.