Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever appeared to take a subtle swipe at Donald Trump during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, over the president’s highly controversial intervention in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
While discussing NATO’s forthcoming $80 billion military aid package for Ukraine, De Wever spoke of the message it would send to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Trump was seated at the same table.
“This is also a very strong ‘red card’ to Putin,” De Wever said, according to The Associated Press.
Then he added: “You can’t just take back a red card. You know that.”
The remark appeared to reference Trump’s admitted request that FIFA review U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension ahead of the Americans’ Round of 16 clash with Belgium.
FIFA ultimately overturned the suspension, but Belgium still cruised to a 4-1 victory, with Belgian players later trolling Trump through their goal celebrations, in the locker room after the game and on social media.