Trump Intervention in World Cup Turned US Team Into Object of Ridicule Before Belgium Rout

What was said

"Trump intervenes and he turns the entire script, all the sort of momentum that we had on its head. And suddenly we're the ones manipulating the rules so that our best striker can get on the field and we become the object of ridicule and anger as opposed to the object of fascination and passion. The Belgian players seem to be extra motivated to, like, stick it to us. When their striker hit the 4th goal in extra time and did the little Trump dance and sent an F you to the crowd, you could tell, like, they wanted to humiliate us."

President Trump's intervention to get suspended striker Christian Pulisic onto the field transformed the U.S. team's narrative from sympathetic underdogs to objects of international contempt, according to Stein. Belgium appeared extra motivated, with their striker performing a mocking Trump dance after scoring a fourth goal in extra time purely to humiliate the U.S. Stein argues Trump's involvement directly contributed to the team's 4-0 loss by changing the psychological dynamic of the match.