Let’s start with this important part: U.S. soccer star Folarin Balogun should be playing in today’s big World Cup soccer match between the United States and Belgium.
During the U.S. victory last Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Balogun was given a red card, meaning that he was ejected, after stepping on the ankle of an opponent while going for a loose ball. The red card also meant Balogun would be suspended for the next game, which is today’s match against Belgium.
Most people in the soccer world agreed that Balogun and the Americans were the victims of a bad call. His actions did not warrant a red card, he should not have been thrown out of last week’s game, and he didn’t deserve to be suspended for this one.
Then word came Sunday that FIFA, the governing body for the World Cup, was rescinding Balogun’s red card and would allow him to play in today’s game.
That was the right thing to do.
So why does it feel so wrong?
Because top-notch reporting — first from The Athletic, and then from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal — revealed that the unusual ruling came after President Donald Trump reached out to Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA.
The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon and Adam Crafton first broke the story.
Tyler Pager and Tariq Panja of the Times wrote, “The reversal is highly unusual and is the first time since 1962 that FIFA has allowed a player to appear in a game when they would have been suspended after being sent off in the World Cup. Mr. Infantino has spent years trying to curry favor with Mr. Trump. Last year, FIFA created and gave Mr. Trump the FIFA Peace Prize amid the president’s public, but failed, campaign to win the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Joshua Robinson, Josh Dawsey and Andrew Beaton of the Journal, citing their own reporting, wrote, “Trump told Infantino that everyone was telling him the decision was wrong and Infantino promised to look into the matter. Later, the FIFA president called the U.S. president back and told him the suspension would be reversed and Balogun would be free to face Belgium on Monday.”
The Journal added, “The sudden reversal, unprecedented in the modern history of the World Cup, immediately touched off a furor about political interference and sporting integrity. Infantino had spent nearly a decade in the buildup to the tournament courting favor with Trump, who calls him a friend and has regularly hosted him inside the Oval Office.”
Trump went to his Truth Social to praise the decision, writing, “Thank you to FIFA for doing what was right, and reversing a great injustice!”
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Meanwhile, Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia seemed stunned by the reversal, saying in a press conference, “I didn’t know that at the World Cup, July 5 is actually April 1. It’s April Fools.”
Before that, he said, “The Belgian federation isn’t just defending itself or the national team; it’s defending football in general — its integrity and its ethics. As far as I recall, I think this is the first time in World Cup history that a decision like this has been made. Anyway, I’m the coach, so I’m going to focus on my team and the match — it doesn’t matter who makes up the USA’s starting lineup. What matters to me is the pitch, my team, winning, and reaching the quarterfinals.”
The Belgian federation released a statement saying it was “astonished” by the decision and was “investigating all potential options,” although it’s unclear what options they actually have.
A reversal of a red card isn’t entirely unprecedented. Last November, Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo had a red card rescinded in a qualifying match. His penalty for elbowing a player could’ve resulted in a three-match suspension, but he was placed on one-year probation instead. That’s kind of like what’s happening here. It has been noted that Argentine superstar Lionel Messi similarly stepped on an opponent’s foot in this World Cup and was not punished at all.
But, of course, there’s controversy because it’s a host country, that host country is the United States and, well, it’s Trump. And even though the U.S. didn’t deserve to lose, arguably, its best player, now that he’s back, the U.S. will be painted as the bad guy — beneficiaries of rigged favoritism.
So why am I writing about this in a media newsletter? Because it was excellent reporting from several media outlets, most notably The Athletic, that brought this story — that Trump made a call — to light.
For its coverage, the Times smartly reprinted this story from June from Tariq Panja and Rebecca R. Ruiz: “A Yearslong Effort to Woo Trump Culminates With the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, credit Mediaite for the headline of the day:
Trump Hails FIFA for Lifting World Cup Suspension of Star US Player — Who is a Birthright Citizen.
Burgum faces the press
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appeared on two Sunday morning news shows and was grilled about Trump administration claims that vandals cut a 350-foot gash in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Last month, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “The 350 foot gash, made by a very sharp knife or razors, is actually numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length. It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition.”
On ABC’s “This Week,” moderator George Stephanopoulos asked Burgum what “specific evidence” the administration has for this claim.
Burgum said, “Well, we have the actual cuts that were made into the industrial liner. And that’s … been measured out. So, that’s just a fact that that’s what we’ve got to go back and repair.”
Stephanopoulos said, “That there’s a 350-foot gash?”
Burgum responded, “Well, it’s multiple gashes that add up to 350 feet across that.”
Burgum continued without answering the question, so Stephanopoulos followed up with, “But you don’t have video evidence of people making those gashes?”
Burgum said, “Well, we do have video. And we do have eyewitness reports. And that’s up to the courts now. So that process will go forward in the legal system.”
However, the administration still hasn’t proved it has actual video evidence of anyone damaging the pool.
Burgum was also challenged by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
Bash asked, “You’re 100% sure that what happened with the liner was vandalism? You can prove it?”
Burgum said, “Oh, yes, absolutely, Dana.”
But Burgum continued by basically saying the photographs of the damage showed it could only be vandalism.
But Bash smartly pushed back by saying, “There are photographs of a person or people cutting a 300- or 350-foot gash in the bottom of the Reflecting Pool?”
That’s when Burgum got rattled and said, “Dana, I’m not sure why you and others in the media think that you want to keep trying to question whether or not …”
Again, Burgum never answered the question directly, instead suggesting that the only possible explanation for the damage was vandalism.
It was good work by both Stephanopoulos and Bash.
Protecting a free press
As the United States celebrated its 250th birthday, New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger wrote an op-ed for The Dallas Morning News: “On Independence Day, we must remember the free press’ role in our freedom.”
Sulzberger wrote, “A healthy democracy depends on an informed public, which, in turn, depends on the flow of information and accountability provided by independent reporters. This is true not just at the national level, but in each of the communities — each town, each city, each county, each capital — that comprise these United States. Free people need a free press. As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding, America’s leaders — including a sitting president who has more aggressively targeted the press than any of his modern predecessors — would do well to remember these animating convictions of our forefathers. And they would better position the nation’s continued strength and prosperity by supporting the free press, however uncomfortable its questions and unwanted its disclosures.”
Sulzberger acknowledged the hurdles facing the press today, writing, “Today, the press that the founders regarded as crucial to American democracy is at its weakest point in the nation’s history.”
Media outlets are suffering from declining revenues. They are dealing with changing technologies. Political attacks continue. Threats to a free press include “punditry, propaganda, conspiracy theories and computer-generated slop.”
But, Sulzberger notes, our founders realized the importance of a free press — the only profession explicitly protected in the Constitution.
Sulzberger writes, “To ensure our nation’s next quarter-millennium is as successful, America needs to do more to shore up the press, particularly the local press, in its moment of vulnerability. That starts with leaders of all stripes pushing back more forcefully on escalating attacks on the press in the United States and around the world. It also means protecting original journalism by ensuring the currently robust protections for intellectual property are reinforced — not weakened — for the A.I. era. And you can help by supporting the news organizations committed to the difficult and costly work of original reporting through subscriptions or donations, especially in your own community.”
Meanwhile, be sure to check out this piece as Poynter reprints the words of the late Poynter chairman Eugene C. Patterson: “A message about the importance of the free press.”
Nuzzi rumors
Olivia Nuzzi, shown here in April of 2023. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Last week, Status’ Natalie Korach had an interesting item about Olivia Nuzzi. You remember Nuzzi as an up-and-coming star political reporter for New York magazine and Vanity Fair who was in a highly publicized breakup with journalist Ryan Lizza. Her career was derailed after what was described as an intimate (although apparently not physical) relationship with someone she covered: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Korach reported that Nuzzi has been seen with Vice founder Shane Smith. Korach wrote, “While it remains unclear precisely what the two have discussed, the meetings come as Smith has returned to Vice in an effort to revive the media company following its 2023 bankruptcy. According to one person familiar with the conversations, Smith and Nuzzi have discussed a possible role for her at Vice, though the details of any potential arrangement were not known.”
However, over the weekend, Page Six’s Oli Coleman reported that a source said Nuzzi and Smith are involved romantically.
Media tidbits
- From CBS News Sunday Morning and correspondent David Martin: “The battle over Stars and Stripes.”
- And here’s “Steve Kroft on reporting for Stars and Stripes in Vietnam.”
- Variety’s Todd Spangler with “Trumps Received $10.7 Million Fee for Amazon’s ‘Melania’ Documentary.”
- The New York Times’ Tiffany Hsu with “Wikipedia Is Battling for the Soul of the Internet.”
- Talk about some smart reporting here. Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner went over some of the publicly reported guest lists for the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding celebration and found that a bunch of folks from the “NFL on Fox” team and Amazon Prime’s “Thursday Night Football” were invited. And there were guests from ESPN, too. But mostly, if not entirely, absent were those from CBS and NBC. So what does it all mean? Well, as Lerner writes: “Travis Kelce wedding guest list may hint at where Chiefs star starts TV career.”
Hot type
- The Hollywood Reporter’s Steve Zeitchik with “The Top 25 Movies That Explain the American Soul, Ranked.”
- For Esquire, Miranda Collinge with “The 16 Best Summer Books of 2026.”
More resources for journalists
- COMING UP: Understand the business of journalism and grow your impact. Join the live online course on July 14, 21 and 28. Enroll now.
- Beat Academy: Strengthen your 2026 midterm coverage with practical tools for reporting in this free, live 75-minute webinar on July 15, 2026. Enroll now.
- Learn how to report on the impact of incarceration on children, parents, guardians, and communities. Enroll now.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
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