Trump's threat to move World Cup games is straight out of his sports-meddling playbook

Earlier this week U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to force World Cup soccer games scheduled to take place at Gillette Stadium to move elsewhere. The pronouncement is a familiar flex from a president bent on governing like a strongman, but is also profoundly relatable.

First, there’s a geographical illiteracy common in an era when many people need smartphone map apps to drive to the corner store. In explaining the move, Trump also lobbed criticism at Boston’s mayor, Michelle Wu. But Gillette stadium is in Foxborough, about 30 minutes south of the city. That stadium is in Boston the same way the Ajax Community Centre is in Toronto. If Trump has a problem with Beantown or its mayor, maybe he should meddle with the Red Sox schedule.

Still, the threat is the latest example of Trump wielding his considerable influence over sports industry decision-makers. Most of us will never have the president’s wealth or platform or political leverage, but we all know how it feels to watch sports executives work, then decide we could do a better job. 

The difference, of course, is that Trump, even before he became president, often had the power to put his ideas into practice. And when his decisions backfired, bad outcomes would cascade – usually for other people.

Lest you label me a Trump hater, dumping on an America-first president from across the border, I’ll give the current president some credit. 

When he owned the New Jersey Generals of the old USFL, his coaching staff initially decided to use superstar tailback Herschel Walker sparingly. They only turned Walker loose after Trump berated them into feeding him the ball. Walker, whom Trump recently appointed the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas, responded by rushing for 2,411 yards