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A jinx. A hex. A malediction. The kiss of death.
Call it what you will, but following the US’ humiliating defeat against Belgium at this year’s World Cup – a match overshadowed by the tournament’s biggest scandal yet – the term “Trump curse” began trending online.
Sports fans have blamed Trump for getting involved, saying that he had cursed the US team after boasting about calling FIFA president Gianni Infantino to get American striker Folarin Balogun’s red card overturned.
Critics accused Trump and FIFA of corruption, with the European Commission demanding “fairness and transparency” after the controversial red card SNAFU. A letter even started circulating in the European Parliament calling for an investigation into whether pressure from Trump influenced FIFA’s decision to ditch the suspension.
Regardless, Trump’s interference didn’t help. In fact, it made things worse, turning football fans the world over against the US team – who hadn’t asked for this – and getting them to cheer when Belgium knocked the host nation out of the World Cup.
“At this point, a Trump endorsement is starting to look less like support and more like a curse,” said one social media user, while another wrote: “Trump stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong. It made the world hate us even more than they already do, and emboldened Belgium. I wish the US had won and I have to wonder if we would have, if Trump had not interfered. ETTD: Everything Trump touches dies.”
Another wrote: “4 to 1 Belgium, and Trump cheating on Team USA’s behalf ends up meaningless because his curse always takes over.”
Overreaction? Not when you look at the evidence.
The snag for Trump, who clearly needs to get an exorcism booked, is that there’s a precedent for his reverse Midas Touch, as he has seemingly cursed sports teams before.
“He cursed the Knicks in Game 3 and now this. The Trump Curse is real,” wrote one X user.
Indeed, Trump most recently attended the New York Knick’s Game 3 in the NBA finals, which was their only defeat of the series.
Knicks fans accused Trump of placing a “curse” on the team, leading some to “cleanse” Madison Square Garden with sage – a practice known as “smudging”, by which sacred herbs are burned to drive out negative energy and promote healing.
It seemed to work, as the Knicks went on to win the series in five games.
Adding credence to the Trump curse theory is last year’s NFL game, which saw the Washington Commanders face off against the Detroit Lions. The Lions ended up winning, to the sounds of boos aimed at Trump, who was in attendance.
Then Trump attended the first day of the 2025 Ryder Cup on Long Island, New York. The US golfers were down 3-1 to Europe. Trump told reporters: “We’re going to get it done. One way or another, we’ll get it done.”
The US finsished the day down 5 ½ to 2 ½, and Europe ended up winning the competition 15-13.
Still not convinced?
In February 2025, Trump openly supported a team during Super Bowl LIX by predicting the Chiefs would beat the Eagles. Can you guess what happened next? The Eagles won 40-22.
So, is Trump a bad omen for sports teams?
Football fans seem to think so, believing that if Trump hadn’t got involved and wasn’t so keen to make everything about himself in a bid to share the glory, then the US team might have beaten Belgium. And while you can’t win all the time, the evidence mounts up.
Our advice? Since Trump isn’t staying out of sports, see the silver lining and embrace the following cheat code: Whichever team Trump backs, bet the other way. It seems to be working so far.