Trump Wants FIFA's Gianni Infantino Running the United Nations

President Trump wants FIFA President Gianni Infantino to be the next secretary-general of the United Nations, according to the New York Post, which cited a source close to the president.

The pitch: Infantino is "respected by everyone around the world" and has "a special ability to bring people together," the source told the Post. Trump and Infantino grew close during this year's World Cup, which the US co-hosted with Canada and Mexico. Infantino gave Trump FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize in December and stood next to him throughout the tournament, at one point declaring in New York that "the American dream, Mr. President, came to reality."

It wasn't all smooth. Trump and Infantino got booed at the World Cup final in New Jersey before handing Spain's captain Rodri the trophy after Spain beat Argentina 1-0, according to Africanews. The tournament had already drawn criticism after FIFA, at Trump's urging, lifted a suspension on US player Folarin Balogun, a move that reportedly angered several European federations.

How the UN job actually works

The current secretary-general, António Guterres of Portugal, is stepping down at the end of December. His replacement needs to clear two hurdles: a recommendation from the 15-member UN Security Council, where the US, UK, France, Russia and China all hold veto power, followed by confirmation from the 193-member General Assembly.

That's a real obstacle. Any one of five governments can kill a nomination outright. Whether Russia or China would sign off on a Trump-backed pick is an open question nobody has answered yet.

There's also a geographic wrinkle. The unofficial rotation system has pointed toward a candidate from Latin America or the Caribbean, a region that hasn't held the post since Peru's Javier Pérez de Cuéllar left office in 1991. Sources told the Post that tradition wouldn't necessarily block Infantino, and it's possible he could pick up backing from multiple countries beyond just the US.

The declared field includes former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, a socialist who could face US resistance, and Rafael Grossi, Argentina's director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who might run into UK objections over the Falkland Islands. One insider described the current lineup to the Post as seven "lame" candidates, which is reportedly part of why Trump thinks there's an opening.

Does Infantino even want it?

Nobody's confirmed that Infantino is interested. The Post reported it's unclear whether he wants the job or how much Trump has actually discussed it with him directly. Paolo Zampolli, Trump's Special Representative for Global Partnerships and a personal friend of Infantino's, told the Post he was surprised to learn of the idea at all, despite spending time with Infantino at the World Cup final. Zampolli called it "genius" anyway, saying Infantino "is liked by everybody" and could bring "fresh energy" to what he called a massive bureaucracy.

There's a financial reality check here too. Infantino currently earns roughly $6 million a year as FIFA president, according to Times Now's reporting on the story. The UN secretary-general's compensation runs around $418,000. That's a pay cut of more than 90%.

Infantino also already declared his intention to seek another term as FIFA president, with that election scheduled for next March. Running for two jobs on two different continents, one of them unpaid by comparison, is not a small logistical problem.

The bigger picture: Trump's UN grievances

Trump has spent his time back in office cutting US funding to the UN and pulling out of several UN-affiliated bodies, including the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council, according to Times Now. He's been openly critical of the UN's inability to mediate major conflicts. Installing an ally as secretary-general would be one way to reshape an institution he's repeatedly written off as ineffective.

Critics of that framing would say a US president trying to install a personal favorite atop the UN, whose independence from any single member state is supposed to be the point, undercuts the very legitimacy Trump claims he wants to restore. The Security Council veto structure was designed, in part, to guard against precisely this scenario, as it forces any nominee to survive buy-in from adversarial powers like Russia and China, not just Washington.

Nothing here is close to finalized. There's no confirmed Infantino candidacy, no Security Council vote scheduled, and no public comment from Infantino himself on whether he'd take the job. The selection process for Guterres' successor is expected to play out over the rest of the year, with the Security Council's recommendation and General Assembly confirmation still ahead.