For all its corporate gloss and elitist governance, football will not bend to the will of a president so eager to demonise and exclude.
On 28 June, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about the World Cup, noting that the FIFA numbers are far greater than any previous tournament.
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He called it a great tribute to the United States.
But aside from that low-key boast, Trump has been largely invisible across 22 days and 82 matches so far.
A president who was sweatily present in the buildup has yet to attend a game.
This silence is deliberate.
Trump's entire methodology is to flood the zone with noise, transforming himself into an industrial-scale brain-shout delivery system.
Yet during the world's largest single cultural event, he has chosen to stay quiet.
The precedent is Vladimir Putin in 2018, the first modern strongman World Cup.
Putin was present but largely mute, presenting Russia as an open, orderly, hospitable place for four weeks.
Don't offer a target when the world is watching. That strategy seems to be at play here.
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All the predicted elements of friction have not materialised around the host cities.
Why Trump Stays Away
There are simpler theories. Trump is thin-skinned and knows he will be booed at matches.
He was booed at the NBA Finals in New York last month.
Football remains somehow non-compliant.
The US men's team is notably multicultural and diverse, a showcase for the porous nature of nationality and the success of immigrant populations.
This doesn't fit the energy of a president eager to demonise and exclude.
Trump has had bruising interactions with the US women's national team, and the men's team represents the wider mix in the country.
Trump's absence is a tactical vacating of the zone, an act of sportswashing in itself. But also, just maybe, an admission of wariness.
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Football won't tell you much these days. But it might just tell you that.
