- FIFA President Gianni Infantino is reportedly being pushed by Trump to become the next UN secretary-general.
- The move would break decades of tradition by placing a sports administrator at the top of the UN.
- Trump believes Infantino has a special ability to bring people together globally.
- Infantino awarded Trump FIFA’s Peace Prize and has close ties with the president.
- The next secretary-general must be approved by the Security Council and General Assembly later this year.
President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing FIFA President Gianni Infantino to become the next secretary-general of the United Nations, according to multiple news outlets citing sources close to the president. The move would place a global sports administrator at the helm of the world's premier diplomatic body, a break from decades of tradition.
Portugal's António Guterres steps down as secretary-general in December, and a replacement is expected to be chosen before then. Getting the job requires clearing two hurdles: sign-off from all five veto-holding members of the 15-seat Security Council, then a vote from the full General Assembly.
A source close to Trump told the New York Post that the president sees Infantino as "respected by everyone around the world" and credits him with "a special ability to bring people together." Whether Infantino actually wants the job — or has even discussed it with Trump — is still unknown.
The two men grew close over the past year as Infantino helped organize the World Cup, hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In December, FIFA handed Trump its first-ever Peace Prize, a nod to the president's frequent claims that his conflict-mediation work earned him a Nobel Prize he never received.
That closeness drew criticism during the tournament itself. Days before the Round of 16, FIFA abruptly lifted a one-match ban on U.S. forward Folarin Balogun. Trump later acknowledged calling Infantino directly to push for the reversal, calling the original suspension unfair. UEFA blasted the decision, calling it a clear-cut example of political interference in the sport.
A break from diplomatic tradition
Picking Infantino would break with the informal expectation that the next secretary-general hail from Latin America or the Caribbean; the last person from that region to hold the post was Peru's Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, who left office in 1991. Chile's former president Michelle Bachelet and Rafael Grossi, Argentina's IAEA chief, are considered the frontrunners under that convention.
Paolo Zampolli, Trump's special envoy for global partnerships and a friend of Infantino's, told the Post that "only President Trump could have such a genius idea," adding that Infantino "would do a great job" and is "liked by everybody." Zampolli pointed to FIFA's 200-plus member federations as evidence Infantino already knows how to manage an organization roughly the size of the UN's 193 member states.
Trump's history of UN skepticism
Trump has spent much of his second term arguing the UN can't get anything done on the world's biggest conflicts. He's backed that up by cutting American funding and pulling the U.S. out of several UN-affiliated bodies, among them the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the Human Rights Council. Whether handing the top job to a Trump ally would change any of that or just put a friendlier face on the same bureaucracy is an open question.
Money and politics complicate the picture
Taking the UN post would mean a steep financial hit for Infantino, who currently pulls in about $6 million a year running FIFA, compared with roughly $418,000 for the secretary-general's job. He's also facing his own reelection fight at FIFA in March, running against pushback from former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who left the organization under a cloud of scandal himself.
Trump has tapped outsiders for major roles before — WWE's Linda McMahon now heads the Department of Education — but no UN secretary-general has ever come from outside politics or diplomacy. Infantino would be the first.
Trump reportedly views the current field of contenders as weak, and people close to him say the usual regional expectations wouldn't automatically block an Infantino run if he decides to pursue it. For an organization Washington has already been pulling back from, the real test may be whether new leadership changes anything — or just gives the same institution a more familiar face.
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