FIFA is “proposing that the opening match of their inaugural under-15s football festival should be Israel against Palestine,” according to reporting by The Athletic, which cited sources with knowledge of the plans. When I read the news, I literally shook my head in disbelief. This eye-wateringly corrupt and politically opportunistic soccer organization might just be on the brink of outdoing itself, once again, with this exploitative spectacle.

The backstory to the proposed match is FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s awkward failure to orchestrate a photo op between the vice president of the Israel Football Association and the president of the Palestinian Football Association at the FIFA Congress in April. After being called on to a stage together, the PFA president, Jibril Rajoub, refused to shake hands with his Israeli counterpart despite pleas from Infantino. Instead, Rajoub faced the audience and shouted, “We are suffering!”

Infantino wouldn’t be giving “hope to the children”— he would be using them as pawns.

It appeared Infantino was trying to posture as a grand peace broker ahead of announcing that he would be running for another term as president — a cushy gig that pays more than $6 million a year. But instead of being humbled by his amateur diplomatic backfire, he seems to be doubling down in the strangest way: by proposing the two youth teams face off against each other in the opening match of a new tournament.

The whole setup smacks of an empty showman trying to profit off one of the most high-profile geopolitical conflicts in the world — and one in which one party has engaged in an ongoing ethnic cleansing and a genocidal military operation against the other.

International sports tournaments certainly do stir up international political tensions from time to time. But those matchups happen unpredictably, through a combination of random draws and coinciding ranking in a contest. And it’s understood that no matter how high emotions run, the game is ultimately just a game.

What Infantino’s FIFA appears to be pushing for, instead, is a dramatization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the medium of sports. Regardless of the stated intentions, it would make the match itself about their adversarial relationship, and would attract international attention — and potentially a large, lucrative viewership for a new tournament — based on politics and controversy. It’s easy to see how in this context the match could intensify ill feelings between the two teams. That this match would involve children makes it even more distasteful, as they would lack the maturity to see past FIFA’s cheap gimmick. Infantino wouldn’t be giving “hope to the children” — he would be using them as pawns.

It’s still unclear if the match will happen. A spokesperson for the IFA told The Athletic, “We are more than ever willing to use football as an instrument to promote normalization and peace,” and added, “Our hands are always extended for a better future for everyone. We hope to find a brave partner on the other side.” The PFA did not respond to a request for comment.

But the fact that it’s apparently even being floated as a proposal is a window into FIFA’s cynicism. 

We don’t need to be charitable here — how could this possibly be about peace? Infantino is a sycophant who proudly awarded our imperialistic, war-loving president the ludicrous inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize” in a bid to curry favor with him and ensure the World Cup rakes in as much cash as possible. Politico reported that Infantino scored more face time with Trump than any world leader in 2025. If he harbored even the slightest bit of concern about contributing to global unity, he would rescind his dystopian reward and resign out of shame. 

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Less than a day after hosting an Ultimate Fighting Championship fight on the White House lawn, President Donald Trump turned his attention to announcing another splashy event: the July 4th event in Washington meant to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, which Trump says will now be “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all” and feature the “largest fireworks show in history.”

As MS NOW reported, this event was, according to the organization managing the event, originally intended to celebrate America’s founding and love of country in a nonpartisan manner. The event description made no mention of Trump and promised a “celebration of the people, principles, and patriotic spirit that make the United States the greatest nation in the world.”

But Trump is politicizing the event, once more co-opting the country’s anniversary into a personal celebration, and selling it with the same energy that one might advertise a monster truck show.

I can’t help but think of that warning that populists pander to the public and divert their attention from misdeeds with “bread and circuses.” But Trump’s political strategy has gone all in on circuses — and the bread has gone moldy.

Trump is barely even attempting to govern anymore, but he is feverishly devoted to crafting the symbolism of power.

It is not uncommon for presidents to sponsor fun cultural events at the White House. But Trump’s UFC fight used entertainment as a reactionary political forum, encouraging his supporters to see violence as a just and honorable signifier of their politics.  

The Lincoln Memorial is a sacred place in the American story, meant to prompt reflection about our republic’s existential questions. Trump held a weigh-in for his UFC fight here, a desecration.

The event itself, held in a gigantic metal structure called “The Claw” on the White House lawn — at which a fighter repulsively croaked, “Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right, America?” — sent a message to the rest of America about who was welcome and who was not at Trump’s party outside the People’s House. It also signaled to members of a right-wing movement built on a caricature of militant masculinity that Trump values their support.

Having started a disastrous, failed war of choice and holding record-low approval numbers, Trump has retreated to party planning and interior decorating. The UFC event was only the latest, but his pageants have also included an over-the-top military parade, decking the White House in gold, draping images of his face everywhere in Washington and providing bizarre updates on renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Trump is barely even attempting to govern anymore, but he is feverishly devoted to crafting the symbolism of power. And he’s going to lean into it through the semiquincentennial celebrations.

Trump might be entertaining some in his base with these circuses, and they serve as a way to telegraph his support of pro-regime paramilitaries. But he has also completely forgotten that other vital prong of vulgar populism — the bread. During Trump’s first term, the economy hummed along decently, the memory of which played a key role in his return to office. But this term, he is presiding over a self-made affordability crisis, and he couldn’t be less concerned. In fact, he’s showing outright scorn for the people. 

Trump boasted, “I love the inflation,” when reporters pressed him about inflation reaching a three-year high, driven in large part by an energy price surge he caused. He proudly declared, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” as he loses a war he promised not to start and has no clear plan to get out of. He has taken no serious steps to relieve working Americans from the extra financial pressure. And he’s starting to hemorrhage support because of these intertwined crises.

One of Trump’s political talents has been using his clownish charisma and culture wars to convince right-leaning, working-class Americans that he’s on their side — just as he signs legislation and regulations that are gifts to tech tycoons and the richest 1%. But if the fundamentals of the economy aren’t working — particularly after a previous round of inflation under a predecessor — it could spell disaster for his party during the midterm elections. At some point, people need that bread. 

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