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President Trump’s reverential treatment of superpower leaders became painfully evident when he greeted madman Vladimir Putin in Alaska to resolve the war in Ukraine. He not only rolled out the red carpet — literally — but he also fawned all over the Russian dictator. Until the very end…. When the peace summit, so-called, was over, Trump looked defeated. He immediately assigned further negotiations to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and receded into his White House cubicle, aka Oval Office, upon returning to D.C. Trump’s posture toward those in power was even more evident on his visit with China’s Xi Jinping. When it was over, he immediately put on hold an arms sale to Taiwan after Xi warned him not to interfere in the island’s future. Taiwan should be worried. Xi has indicated 2027 is the year of the proposed takeover. When it comes to our “weakling” allies of many decades in Europe, Trump has no problem walking all over them, even pulling the plug on American NATO forces on the mainland. He last month completely alienated his sole European ally — Italy’s Prime Minister Georgia Meloni — when he publicly said she “begged” him for a photo op. Trump is now in

I could sense it coming even before President Trump waved his magic wand and got striker Folarin Balogun reinstated from his suspension. The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) was about to get a brutal comeuppance from Belgium, which happened tonight to the tune of 4 to 1 in the Round of 16. I actually turned off the game after Belgium, early on, scored one of the easiest goals in the whole 2026 FIFA World Cup Tournament. It looked as if the U.S. team was hardly paying attention to its opponents. I switched channels to watch the New York Mets baseball game, and their broadcast team kept everyone up to date with the soccer score: First, 2-1, then 3-1, finally 4-1. “Very bad day…. When that happens in a tournament like the World Cup, you don’t have another chance,” mused U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino afterward. (Speaking of whom, I’m not sure how he leads the team. I can barely understand a word of his so-called English.) I think Belgium became even more determined to embarrass the U.S. squad after Trump got Balogun off his red-card penalty so he could participate. When that was announced yesterday, Belgian soccer officials dubbed it

None dare call him partisan, but our Soccer-Fan-in-Chief — or is it Futbol-Fan-in-Chief? — Donald Trump has used his infamous phone to get USA National Team striker Folarin Balogun reinstated. Balogun was given an infamous red card in his last game for an inadvertent ankle stomping of a rival player, meaning he would have to miss tomorrow’s game against Belgium. Trump intervened by calling FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request a review of the penalty. Some days later — meaning this morning — the call paid off as Infantino managed to get the striker’s penalty converted to a yearlong probation. Though red flags are not contestable under FIFA rules, there is something called Article 27, which allows for conversion to what amounts to soccer parole. Though using Article 27 is rare, it was invoked just this past year for superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. who was set to miss three games because of an elbowing incident and ultimately received a similar probation.  The Belgian football association is unhappy with today’s reversal. protesting that the “decision is in direct contradiction with the provisions of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Competition Regulations.”  Trump, however, is elated, writing on Truth Social: “Thank you to FIFA for