There’s no sport more American than American football, but Donald Trump thinks that the NFL needs to rethink its name.
During a recent public speech alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted in the United States, Donald Trump pondered why soccer is not called “football in the United States.
“When you look at what has happened to football in the United States – soccer in the United States – we seem to never call it that because we have a little bit of a conflict with another thing that’s called football,” Trump said.
Wow: President Donald Trump wants the NFL to change its name so that soccer is the only sport named football.
“This is football, there is no question about it. We have to come up with another name for the NFL stuff.”
😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/uxJMsG0oQd
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 2, 2026
Trump went as far as to suggest that the sport should be called “football” in the United States, as well, just as it is throughout most of the rest of the world.
He even suggested changing the name of the NFL, which stands for the National Football League.
“But when you think about it, shouldn’t it really be called [football]?” Trump said, referring to soccer. “I mean, this is football, there’s no question about it,” Trump said. “We have to come up with another name for the NFL stuff.”
Behind him, Infantino could be heard exclaiming “yes, yes!” in agreement with Trump.
“Because it doesn’t really make sense when you think about it. It is really football,” Trump said.
Obviously, it’s unlikely that Trump would ever actually officially change the name of the sport in the United States, but it is certainly interesting to hear the current president suggest something like that.
The United States is set to serve as a host nation for the FIFA World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 19.