Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump will meet face-to-face for the first time on Friday in Washington. The President confirmed that she will travel to the US capital this afternoon to attend the 2026 World Cup draw, and announced that “everything seems to indicate” that she will hold a short meeting with the US President and another with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Sheinbaum explained that he will be making the trip on a National Defense Secretariat plane “due to round-trip flight schedules”: “We will leave today in the afternoon, sleep in Washington, and tomorrow morning we will go to the event.” The president explained that her participation in the ceremony would be minimal: “The event lasts four minutes. We will take the ball out to see which group we will lead, such as Mexico.” He will also take advantage of the trip to meet members of the Mexican community in the United States.
This will be the first meeting between Trump and Sheinbaum. Since Trump arrived at the White House last January, the two leaders have held several telephone conversations in the context of the tit-for-tat attack against Mexico and other countries, and the pole’s repeated attacks on its southern neighbor.
The event, to which Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has also been invited, will bring together the three leaders of the tournament’s host nations at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “It would be a good moment for the president and the prime minister of Canada to be together, to give that picture that North America and our trade commitment are moving forward,” the president said Wednesday.
The draw will determine the competitors and the path of each team in the first stage of the World Cup. The 42 qualified teams – pending the remaining six places – will be divided into 12 groups. On that day, Mexico will know its three opponents and the arrangement of their matches. The day will include performances by Village People, Robby Williams and tenor Andrea Bocelli, and will be hosted by Heidi Klum, comedian Kevin Hart and actor Danny Ramírez. In addition, Infantino announced a new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded on the same day, with Trump being the main candidate to win the award. One day after the draw is held, i.e. on Saturday, the updated calendar will be published with the stadiums and times of each match.
The announcement of the trip comes amid the president’s controversial decision not to attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup, next June 11 at the Azteca Stadium, an unprecedented absence in the tournament. The president confirmed that she would give the 001 ticket that Infantino gave her in August to an indigenous girl who is a soccer fan. It has not yet been confirmed whether Trump or Carney will attend the inauguration ceremony.