David Patterson

Reporter: Can you describe your phone call with Gianni Infantino about the red card? Belgium is appealing the decision. Trump: You’re asking me about the whole soccer thing. So, yeah, I did. I spoke to Gianni. That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed who happened to crash into each other. You can’t properly place your foot on somebody else’s foot when you’re going full speed. No, these were two great athletes who got tangled up. And this referee, who is a little bit suspect—if you check his past. I don’t want to say that because I don’t like to create controversy, but very suspect. If you’d like, I’ll provide you with his past. He didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s our best player, or one of our best players—a very vital player—and they gave him a red card. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t think it meant much. Then I started hearing that it means you can’t play in the next game, at least in the next game. I said, “Boy, that’s a big—” You know, if it happened to another player, it would have been unfair, but when they take your best player—or just about; they have some great players—and say you can’t play, that’s very unfair. That’s one thing, to penalize somebody for the game. But how do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played yet? It’s very unfair. You can’t do that. So, yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who is highly respected, and by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold.