President Donald Trump reignited the ire the world over with his recent meddling in the World Cup, but according to his one-time first-term whistleblower, the scandal exposes a fundamental truth about Trump's worldview that he saw firsthand in the White House.
Earlier this week, FIFA overruled a suspension for the U.S. Men's National Team's star striker, Folarin Balogun, allowing him to take part in a much-anticipated round of 16 match against Belgium. Without Balogun, many observers gave the U.S. even worse odds than usual to win the match.
The USMT ultimately lost, but not after becoming embroiled in scandal after Trump claimed to have called FIFA leaders about their call against the striker. While Trump claimed that he only asked for a review, speculation soon ran rampant that he had exerted pressure to reverse the suspension, a damning accusation of the sort of corruption that the organization has dealt with for decades.
Miles Taylor previously worked in Trump's first-term Department of Homeland Security and became famous for an initially anonymous New York Times op-ed where he criticized the administration from within. In a Tuesday piece published by The i Paper, Taylor said that the situation had cost the U.S. "decades of hard-fought credibility," and argued that "the moment a head of state phones the head of world football trying to push for special treatment for his own team’s star player, and a favourable ruling follows within hours, the belief in impartiality...
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