 "Donald Trump after Chelsea won against Paris St Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup final. Image: Reuters")
Premier League club Chelsea became the latest Club World Cup champions after they defeated Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the final last month. The tournament, which was held in the United States, saw several controversies unfold throughout the course of the event.
The biggest moment occurred after Chelsea beat PSG 3-0 to win the title and were presented the trophy by U.S. President Donald Trump . Later, a video went viral showing Trump standing beside Chelsea players even after handing them the trophy, refusing to leave the stage and leaving everyone confused.
Eric Trump backs his father
Eric Trump has now reacted to the saga, saying that the players felt it was the “greatest honour of their lives” to have Donald Trump on stage during their trophy celebrations.
“Listen, he’s the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America. The winning team invited him to the stage because they said it would be the greatest honor of their life if the president of the United States could present the Club World Cup trophy,” Eric told the BBC.
“And by the way, I was there, I was watching it. The place went crazy. And there’s no one that’s done more for sport than him,” he added.
However, the players didn’t seem to know about this. Chelsea player Cole Palmer said he knew Trump would be in the stadium but didn’t expect him to be part of the celebration. Chelsea captain Reece James was also seen asking Trump something before he lifted the Club World Cup trophy.
“Before they told me he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage,” James later said about Trump joining them during the trophy celebration. “I thought he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay.”
Palmer admitted that it was confusing for him to see Trump on the stage during the trophy celebration. “I knew he was going to be here but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy,” he said. “I was a bit confused, yeah.”
Meanwhile, some reports also claim that when Trump was shown on the big screen after he arrived at the stadium with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, he was booed by the crowd.