The start of the highly anticipated international soccer tournament has brought a glaring contradiction to the forefront: the absolute invisibility of Donald Trump. The former president, who went to great lengths to shape this tournament in his own image during his term in office, has been completely missing since the matches began. For an individual who rarely misses an opportunity to claim credit or stand before a crowd, his absence from the global stage speaks volumes about the transactional nature of right-wing political showmanship.

To understand how we arrived at this moment, one must look back to the corporate and political maneuvering of 2018. The joint bid between the United States, Canada, and Mexico was heavily promoted by the Trump administration as a triumph of American dominance. Behind the scenes, the administration secured the bid by offering sweeping federal guarantees to FIFA—a massive, tax-exempt corporate entity. These guarantees prioritized corporate interests, ensuring tax exemptions and expedited visa processing for wealthy executives, even as the administration pursued restrictive immigration policies for ordinary workers.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, Trump used the Oval Office as a backdrop for promotional photo opportunities with FIFA President Gianni Infantino. These meetings exposed the cozy relationship between authoritarian-leaning political leaders and global sports oligarchs. By treating the world's most popular working-class sport as a personal branding tool, Trump sought to project an image of global influence while simultaneously enacting policies that restricted the movement of people across the very borders the tournament supposedly unites.

Now that the tournament is underway, the reality on the ground looks very different from the elite promises made years ago. Working-class communities in the host cities are facing the realities of hyper-gentrification, increased policing, and public transit disruptions, all designed to accommodate wealthy tourists. Meanwhile, the man who claimed credit for bringing this massive corporate circus to town is nowhere to be found, avoiding any accountability for the social and economic disruption left in the tournament's wake.

His absence also highlights the deeper ideological conflict at the heart of the event. A tournament that celebrates multiculturalism, international unity, and the diverse backgrounds of immigrant players stands in direct opposition to the exclusionary, nationalist rhetoric championed by the Trump administration. It is perhaps fitting that a leader who built his brand on division has chosen to remain invisible during an event that, at least in theory, demands a celebration of global diversity and cooperation.