Donald Trump revealed that the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place in Washington, DC during his surprise announcement on Friday.
Flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Trump said the draw will take place on December 5 of this year at the Kennedy Center.
He boasted that hosting the World Cup is 'like having many Super Bowls in a short period of time,' adding that it will bring a whopping $30 billion economic boom to the US.
The announcement comes as the FBI raid of former national security advisor John Bolton's home enters its sixth hour.
Trump denied knowing about the FBI's raid earlier in the day at a surprise visit to the White House Historical Association Museum.
Slamming his former aide as a 'lowlife' and 'not a smart guy,' Trump said: 'He's very bad at what he does.'
'He doesn't talk, he's like a very quiet person except on television and then he can say something bad about Trump. He'll always do that. But he doesn't talk, he's very quiet,' Trump told reporters.
The raid at Bolton's DC-area home is said to be tied to an investigation into his alleged use of classified documents in his 2020 memoir.
Donald Trump announced on Friday afternoon that the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place in the nation's capital.
It was previously set to happen in Las Vegas, Nevada.
'On December 5 of this year the 2025 FIFA World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center... right here in Wahsington, D.C.,' Trump said in a surprise announcement from the Oval Office.
He said hosting the World Cup is 'like having many Super Bowls in a short period of time.'
'Each one of these games essentially is a Super Bowl. Some of them are bigger than Super Bowls, actually,' Trump said, adding that it will bring a whopping $30 billion economic boom to the U.S.
The president joked that he would soon be renaming the performing arts venue to the 'Trump-Kennedy Center.'
He also said that his closed meetings at the Kennedy Center on Friday morning were to meet with contractors about 'fixing' up the building ahead of the draw.
'It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s got great bones but it needs a lot of work,' Trump claimed.
He was flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance and FIFA President Gianni Infantino for the announcement.
21:01
John Bolton smirks and waves upon return home to ashen-faced wife as Trump denies ordering surprise FBI raid on his ex-adviser
By Kelly Laco
Former White House national security adviser John Bolton learned what it means to be at war with a merciless White House on Friday.
The ex-Trump adviser turned acidic critic returned to his home in Bethesda, Maryland nearly eight hours after the FBI raided the property.
Bolton waved to the cameras but did not take questions from the press as he entered his house to greet his wife, who was visibly shaken by the federal dragnet.
The investigation into Bolton centers around whether he illegally shared or possessed classified information, two sources told the New York Times.
Throughout the raid, more than a dozen federal agents were seen carrying boxes in and out of his house. Other agents were spotted entering Bolton's downtown Washington, DC office.
The ex-Trump adviser arrived to his home in Bethesda, Maryland on Friday nearly eight hours after the FBI raided the property for eight hours.
20:43
Trump says he's 'not happy' with Putin after fresh attacks on Ukraine and issues NEW ultimatum on peace meeting
By Kelly Laco
President Donald Trump revealed Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup game in the United States and issued a new deadline for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
The president said he was hoping that a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would happen soon, as he spoke to reporters from the Oval Office on Friday, one week after his historic summit in Alaska with the Russian president.
He said it would clear within the next 'two weeks' whether or not the meeting would happen, leaning on a familiar timetable he's used repeatedly during his second term.
'I think over the next two weeks, we're going to find out which way it's going to go,' he said. 'And, I better be very happy.'
President Donald Trump announced Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup game.
20:21
Ghislaine Maxwell believes Epstein was MURDERED and there was no client list as Justice Department bombshell transcript released
By Kelly Laco
The Justice Department on Friday made public transcripts from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell, the former accomplice to Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, provided no incriminating information on high-profile individuals, according to the bombshell testimony released Friday afternoon.
She also revealed she has no knowledge of a so-called 'client list,' which has been used a speculation by conspiracy theorists that her old friend was murdered even though his death was ruled a suicide.
The Justice Department on Friday made public a transcript from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former accomplice.
19:56
The eye-popping billions in taxpayer dollars Trump is asking Congress to have DC 'beautified'
By Nikki Schwab
President Donald Trump said Friday that he's going to ask Congress for $2 billion so Washington, D.C. can be 'beautified' around the White House and Capitol Building.
'We're going to be raising about $2 billion from Congress, and Congress is happy to do it, and we're going to wisely spend the money,' he revealed on Friday.
Later, in the Oval Office, the president said he had already gotten his fellow Republicans, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, on board a D.C. beautification spending bill.
He said a contractor had already been decided on and these changes would focus on the looks of the streets.
'We're going to head out right from the Capitol and the White House, and look at a circle, and go about three miles out,' Trump said of the improvement district. 'It's going to be beautiful.'
President Donald Trump said Friday that he's going to ask Congress for $2 billion so Washington, D.C. can be 'beautified' around the White House and Capitol Building.
19:51
From 'birthing person' to 'microaggression' Democratic group pushes to kill use of 'WOKE' trigger words
By Nikki Schwab
A group that represents moderate Democrats drafted a list of 'woke' words that party members should avoid saying if they want to win elections again.
The Third Way released a report that identified more than 40 words and phrases that Democrats are guilty of using and argued that 'no ordinary person would ever dream of saying' these terms.
'Here we are focusing on the eggshell dance of political correctness which leaves the people we aim to reach cold or fearful of admonishment,' the report said.
Among them are the transgender inclusive expressions like 'birthing person' and 'chest feeding.' Average Americans would simply say mothers and breast-feeding.
The report pushes Democrats to avoid 'seminar'-like language, giving examples including 'cultural appropriation' and 'systems of oppression.'
Also 'therapy-speak' was discouraged, with terms like 'microaggressions' - subtle racism - 'privilege' and 'holding space' making the naughty list.
'The intent of this language is to include, broaden, empathize, accept, and embrace,' the report argued. 'The effect of this language is to sound like the extreme, divisive, elitist, and obfuscatory, enforcers of wokeness.'
A group that represents moderate Democrats came up with a list of ' woke ' words that party members should avoid saying if they want to win elections again.
19:33
Trump unveils the next big city he's planning a federal military takeover
By Nikki Schwab
President Donald Trump signaled Friday which American city he would federalize next after doing so in Washington, D.C.
'When we're ready we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.,' Trump told reporters Friday afternoon during a World Cup event.
The president indicated that the plan wasn't fully in action, as he hadn't yet reached out to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
He did call the Democrat names in the Oval Office.
'Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent and we'll straighten that one out probably next, that will be our next one after this and it won't even be tough,' Trump said.
'And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to go. They're wearing red hats, just like this one. But they're wearing red hats,' Trump said.
The Chicago mayor's office did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.
Attorney General Pam Bondi handed over to the House Oversight Committee on Friday thousands of pages from the Jeffrey Epstein files, a spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Mail.
It represents the first trove of files meant to be made public by Congress in a bid to increase transparency in the fallout from Bonid's botched Epstein files review.
Committee Chairman James Comer plans to make the documents public after review and redaction.
John Bolton arrived back at his home just before 3:00 p.m. on Friday.
Shortly after FBI agents left the premises following a nearly eight hour raid of his home in Bethesda, Maryland, the former National Security Advisor was seen returning.
He smirked and waved, but did not take any questions shouted by the press.
18:21
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton waves from a vehicle leaving office building following FBI raid
