President Donald Trump announced Friday that the Kennedy Center would host the 2026 World Cup draw in December, following a surprise visit to the center that morning. During the Oval Office ceremony, Trump added that the millions of visitors to the United States next year would benefit from easy access and indicated that Russian President Vladimir Putin might travel to the United States for the sporting event.
“It is a great honor to welcome this global event, this tremendous group, and these exceptional athletes—the best in the world—to the cultural center of our nation’s capital,” Trump said.
The draw is a ceremony in which FIFA officials determine the World Cup seeds by randomly drawing each participating country from four pots based on its world ranking. Canada, Mexico, and the United States will co-host the World Cup, which will be held in 16 cities.
The composition of each group is closely followed by football fans around the world, making this draw a major event. The teams’ results in the group stage influence their qualification for the tournament. The stronger the group, the more challenging the road ahead will be. The draw also determines the cities—and in this case, the countries—that each team and its fans will visit during the group stage.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino joined Trump in the Oval Office and presented him with the winner’s trophy, specifying that only a few people would be allowed to touch it.
“This is reserved for winners,” he said. “And since you’re a winner, of course you can touch it.”
“It’s a beautiful piece of gold,” Trump said after jokingly asking if he could keep it. Infantino also presented Trump with an oversized match ticket.
Trump was also joined by Vice President J.D. Vance, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi L. Noem.
Noem said, “Millions of people will be coming to this country, and we’re going to make sure they have their travel documents and their visas, and they want to come here, spend their money, and enjoy the sporting event.”
Trump then reiterated this point.
“It will be very easy for them to get in. Some countries will be very easy, and others, of course, a little more difficult,” he said.
These comments came a day after the Trump administration announced its intention to screen the 55 million foreign nationals currently holding visas for the United States. The travel ban, imposed in June and affecting 19 countries, including Iran, which has already qualified, provides an exemption for athletes, coaches, support staff members and their immediate family members entering the country for the World Cup.
Trump also showed a photo of himself with Putin. He said Putin might come to the United States for the World Cup.
“He might come, he might not come,” Trump said.
In 2022, FIFA and UEFA banned Russia from participating in international competitions due to its invasion of Ukraine. This ban has not yet been lifted, making it unlikely that Russia will participate in the 2026 World Cup.
Washington and Baltimore submitted a joint bid to host the tournament, proposing matches at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium and a fan festival on the National Mall, as well as other events in Washington, D.C., but the bid was rejected.
It is historically rare for capital cities not to be invited to host the tournament. (Ottawa will also not host it.) Friday’s announcement allows Washington to join the festivities for the event, which will take place primarily in the United States.
Following Baltimore-Washington’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Conn said, “Our nation’s capital will play an important role in this World Cup, even if it won’t host any matches.”
FIFA, which confirmed the draw location Friday afternoon, also announced that a tournament to determine two of the World Cup finalists will be held in March in North America. The six-team tournament will include two teams from the Confederation of North, Central American, and Caribbean Associations (CONCACAF), as well as one team from Asia, Africa, South America, and Oceania.
UEFA will hold a separate tournament in Europe to determine the four finalists.
Trump has shown keen interest in major American sporting events, having recently formed a White House task force for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a common practice among leaders of host countries, but he sparked controversy by appointing himself to head it. FIFA opened an office in Trump Tower in New York this year ahead of the World Cup. In July, Trump and members of his cabinet attended the Club World Cup final, where he stood on the podium with Chelsea to celebrate the victory.
Before visiting the center, Trump told White House media that “the World Cup will have its home” at the art institution, in which he had expressed a personal interest after purging its board and taking over as president in February.
He also discussed his plans to renovate the center, which include painting the columns “a beautiful white” and “renovating” the marble.
He told reporters: “The Kennedy Center, a year from now, will be extraordinary.”
Announcing the lottery, Trump, wearing a red cap with the inscription “Trump was right on all counts!”, indicated the center’s name change.
“Some are calling it the Trump Kennedy Center, but we’re not ready yet. Maybe in a week or so,” he said. (The Kennedy Center was conceived as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy.)
Trump’s announcement came a day after the center laid off its three-person dance programming team, the latest in a long line of layoffs and departures since he took office. The center did not provide a reason for the dismissals, which a union representative and a fired employee called “a form of censorship.”
Earlier this year, ESPN announced that the lottery would be held in Las Vegas on December 5, but the exact location was not specified. Las Vegas hosted the lottery before the 1994 World Cup, the last time the men’s tournament was held in the United States. At that time, the lottery was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and included Dick Clark, Barry Manilow, Robin Williams, and other celebrities.
A source familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss FIFA’s selection process, confirmed that Las Vegas and Washington were the finalists to host the lottery.
Although the U.S. team doesn’t know its group-stage opponents until the draw is made, its match venues—two at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and one at Lumen Field in Seattle—were booked for more than a year, when host countries automatically received the highest seeding in three groups.