Trump Confirms the FIFA Fix: “I Asked for a Review”
The Narativ | Know Sooner — ⚽ Fix Confirmed · 🎙️ Cohen Returns · ⚖️ Robinson Hearing · 🗳️ ‘Communists’ Framed · 🤝 Ankara Sidelines
👀 STORIES TO WATCH
⚽ TRUMP OWNS THE RED-CARD FIX — AT THE PODIUM, ON THE RECORD
Trump confirmed this morning that he personally asked FIFA to reverse Folarin Balogun’s red card. “I spoke to Johnny,” he said of Gianni Infantino, at a White House event recorded by Narativ. “I asked for a review… I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do.” He ruled on the play himself — “that wasn’t a foul, that wasn’t even an infraction” — then smeared the referee: “a little bit suspect if you check his past… If you’d like, I’ll provide you with the past.” A sitting president offered the press corps a dossier on a World Cup official. He claimed the tournament outright — “I got the World Cup… It was not Biden. Biden was asleep” — and pre-spun tonight’s Belgium game: “If they beat us, I say it was rigged, just like the election was rigged in 2020.” Balogun — a New York-born birthright citizen of the exact kind Trump’s movement wants stripped of that birthright — plays tonight. The fix was confirmed by the fixer, with a bow.
Trump Confirms the FIFA Fix: “I Asked for a Review” — and Pre-Calls Tonight’s Game “Rigged” If America Loses
Trump confirmed today he personally asked FIFA to reverse Folarin Balogun’s red card — then spent ten minutes at a White House podium relitigating the call, smearing the referee, and claiming the World Cup as his own. “I spoke to Johnny,” he said of FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “I asked for a review… I didn’t tell him what to do. I can’t tell him what to do.” FIFA erased the suspension Sunday. Balogun plays Belgium tonight, in a Round of 16 game Trump says fifty million Americans will watch.
🎙️ TRUMP BLESSES COHEN’S COMEBACK — THE STAGE IS SET
Trump gave Michael Cohen a “glowing recommendation” for a new 770 WABC show — a personal greenlight for hiring the star witness who helped convict him, sought in advance by owner John Catsimatidis: “I checked with the White House and they had no objection.” Cohen spent January claiming Bragg and James coerced his testimony; Blanche — who branded him “the greatest liar of all time” — needs exactly that recantation, weekly, in public, to free the president from the 34-count conviction. Cohen sold the resistance a truth-teller, kept the subscription money, and went back to the fold; The Narativ reported the project in January and got attacked for asking. Boycott 770 WABC — Catsimatidis asked permission for a host, let him ask for an audience.
Trump Personally Blessed Michael Cohen's Radio Comeback. Now Watch What Cohen Does With It.
Trump gave Michael Cohen a “glowing recommendation” for his new radio show, Cohen told the New York Post — a personal greenlight from the president for the hiring of the star witness who helped convict him. Station owner John Catsimatidis, a major Trump donor, confirmed he sought that blessing before making the hire: “I checked with the White House and they had no objection. I understand everything is fine.”
⚖️ THE STATE SHOWS ITS ROBINSON CASE — ON CAMERA
Utah prosecutors open a five-day preliminary hearing this morning to put Tyler Robinson on trial for his life in the Charlie Kirk assassination — livestreamed, over defense objections, with Erika Kirk in the room. The case is very strong: DNA on the trigger, a written declaration of intent, a family that turned him in; what changes today is that the record stops being thin and the theories meet the evidence. Expect the bindover; watch for plea signals from the defense.
Prosecutors Open Their Case Against Tyler Robinson Today
Utah prosecutors begin a five-day preliminary hearing this morning in Provo to prove Tyler Robinson, 23, should stand trial on capital charges for the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Robinson allegedly shot Kirk on September 10 as he addressed thousands at Utah Valley University. The judge ruled last week — over defense objections — that cameras can record and broadcast most of the hearing. It will be livestreamed.
🗳️ HE SHOUTS COMMUNISM — AND RUNS A COMMAND ECONOMY
Trump’s Mall speech warned of “communists” while his weekend record showed allocation by loyalty: no-bid Reflecting Pool contracts kept with Trump-tied vendors, donor pardons, a critic facing ten years, 702 rules erased by decree. The accusation is a confession.
Trump Turns the 250th Into a Campaign Launch Against Communists — But He Is Acting Like One.
Trump overruled every agency that recommended cancelling Saturday’s “Salute America” rally after storms forced a mass evacuation of the Mall. “When POTUS heard this, he told all involved to invite everyone back in and the speech would take place,” a senior White House official said. Trump then used America’s 250th birthday stage to demand new voting restrictions and warn that “communists” could gain ground in the country.
🤝 THE FIXER FLIES TO ANKARA
Kyiv buried 11 more this morning; Wednesday at 2:30 Trump sits with Zelenskyy carrying Saturday’s Putin call — land for an ending, priced in territory that isn’t his to trade — with al-Sharaa and the Lebanon fix booked for the same afternoon.
Trump Tries to End Ukraine War After 90 Minute Putin Call.
Russian missiles and drones killed at least 11 people in Kyiv early this morning, three days after the deadliest attack on the capital this year killed 31. Ukraine says it is running short of Patriot interceptors — the only weapon that stops the ballistic strikes. Moscow bombs while the deal ripens.
🎯 THE BIGGER PICTURE
Fairness left the building this weekend, and this morning Trump said so out loud. “If they beat us, it was rigged” — the president’s rule for tonight’s game is the rule for everything now: outcomes he likes are earned, outcomes he doesn’t are stolen, and what you owe him decides which you get. Cohen recants and collects a microphone. Infantino defers and delivers a striker. Vendors stay loyal and keep the contracts. Putin gets ninety minutes and a fixer; Ukraine gets the bill. And the man shouting communism from the Mall spent the weekend allocating contracts, pardons and punishments by loyalty — the command economy he claims to be saving us from, minus the free market capitalism actually requires. One room still runs on rules this morning: a courtroom in Provo, where the state lays out a very strong case on camera and takes cross-examination like everyone else. That’s what fairness looks like. Notice how rare it felt.
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📚 READ THIS ON NARATIV
He told you who Cohen was in January. Trump’s Lawyer: Michael Cohen is ‘The Greatest Liar of All Time’ — Blanche gave Cohen the nickname. He needs him now.
Trump's Lawyer: Michael Cohen is 'The Greatest Liar of All Time'
On Friday, January 16, 2026, Michael Cohen published a Substack post claiming Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg and NY Attorney General Letitia James “pressured and coerced” him into giving testimony against Donald Trump.
I tuned-in to Malcolm Nance, Lev Parnas and Michael Cohen back way back when and found it interesting to listen to a spy talk with 2 felons.
I was a free subscriber to all 3. I accidentally paid for a year subscription to Cohen for a year. It ended in May. I do not miss him.
Greg and I both subscribe to Malcolm Nance / Black Man Spy. We have participated in every single one of his webcasts since the beginning of the Iran War. Along with Malcolm are Danish intelligence officer, Jacob Karsbo (subscribed) and mideast expert, Wajeeh Lion (subscribed) Tuning in to Black Man Spy a great way to start the day.
I’ve always thought Cohen was a whiney POS. Never fell for his act. Every time he spoke, he made it about himself - sound familiar. Hope karma does her work soon.