World Cup US host cities could be moved due to crime, Trump says

President Donald Trump said Thursday that World Cup host sites in the U.S. could be moved if he felt the city was unsafe for players and fans to be in.

Trump touted a decrease in crime in Washington, D.C., after the National Guard was sent in and said he planned to do the same with Chicago and Memphis in the coming days. Neither Washington, Chicago nor Memphis will be hosting the World Cup.

“We, as you probably know, we’re going into Memphis, and we’re going into some other cities and very soon we’re going to go into Chicago,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It will be safe for the World Cup. If I think it isn’t safe, we’re moving into a different city. If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out of that city.”

Trump credited FBI Director Kash Patel with helping to decrease crime in Chicago, but made the point again that he would consider moving a location if he felt the city was too unsafe.

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“If any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup or for the Olympics. … But for the World Cup in particular, because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it to go to that. We’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.”

Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Philadelphia, Santa Clara, California, and East Rutherford, New Jersey, will be the host cities in the U.S.

The tournament will begin June 11 and run through July 19.

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