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Folarin Balogun Ban Reprieve Sparks Fury Ahead Of Belgium Match; Ukrainian Drone Strikes Trigger Fuel Crisis Across Russia; CNN Inside Iran For Funeral Of Slain Supreme Leader; Donald Trump Takes Questions About Call With FIFA; Balogun Available For USA After Red Card Ban Suspended. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired July 06, 2026 - 10:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:36]

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi, where

the time is just after 6:00 in the evening.

Now we're following a political firestorm around the World Cup, FIFA has reversed Team USA's top scorer Folarin Balogun red card, so that he can

play in tonight's match against Belgium after U.S. President Trump called the head of the football organization.

And as Trump prepares to depart for the NATO summit later today, Russia launched a major attack on Kyiv.

Plus, we're going to take you to Iran, where the largest crowds yet are packing the streets of Tehran for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's

funeral procession.

We begin with a red card decision that threatens to put the World Cup's integrity on the line. Belgium's Football Association says it will appeal a

decision by FIFA to reverse a one match ban for USA star striker Folarin Balogun. The striker will be allowed to play in the knockout match against

Belgium later. FIFA's decision to reinstate the player reportedly came after Donald Trump spoke to the FIFA head, Gianni Infantino, on the phone.

The Belgian Federation has formally appealed the decision. Here's what their coach had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDI GARCIA, BELGIUM HEAD COACH (through translator): I didn't realize that at FIFA headquarters, July 5th was the equivalent of April 1st in Europe.

The Belgian Football Association isn't defending itself, nor is it defending the national team. It's defending football in general, the

integrity and ethics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: And here's what U.S.'s head coach had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAURICIO POCHETTINO, U.S. HEAD COACH: I am listening. Different coaches, different, you know, federation that talk about the president called this,

that, everything want to be involved. It does not surprise me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: CNN's Betsy Klein breaks down the controversy for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Across the globe, this appears to be causing an international incident, that stunning decision

announced by FIFA yesterday to allow American star striker Balogun to play in today's round of 16 match against Belgium. FIFA turning to an obscure

rule to allow him to play after that red card, and now we are learning that President Trump may have played a role here.

A source familiar with the matter tells me that President Trump last week, on Thursday, spoke by phone with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and asked

him to review that decision.

Now, we've also learned just moments ago, according to a U.S. government official, that the US government provided additional evidence that was used

in that appeal process, but all of this raising major concerns about political interference, as well as the integrity of this tournament.

Now, a reminder that Infantino had developed a close relationship with President Trump in the lead up to the U.S. hosting the World Cup, he

presented Trump with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize, and President Trump on Sunday reacting to that decision, saying that it was reversing a great

injustice.

But now we have learned that Belgium is going to appeal, saying in a statement that their national team has not received an explanation from

FIFA, so it therefore has no alternative but to challenge the players' eligibility for this upcoming match.

Now, President Trump is going to be watching USA take on Belgium while he's on Air Force One on the way to the NATO summit in Turkey overnight tonight.

Belgium, notably, is a member of NATO, so this could get quite awkward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Our senior politics reporter, Stephen Collinson, just wrote an analysis piece about President Trump's involvement in this controversy for

CNN Digital, and he says it was almost inevitable that Trump would find a way to insert himself into the World Cup, which he has compared to multiple

simultaneous Super Bowls, and which he creates the kind of global spotlight he can't resist. Stephen joins me now from Washington.

[10:05:04]

I mean, what a mess. You've got all these headlines coming through, they're talking about interference by President Trump, and I mean, it's a mess, and

we're looking at Section 27 of the FIFA code. Is there a precedent? Is this going to set a precedent?

Give me a sense of how you're reading into all of this, because frankly, the United States globally has received so much positive news in the way

that it's handled this World Cup, and this, of course, is just creating a shadow of doubt, I suppose.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, it's a shame, because this World Cup, I think, has so far not just been great on the field in

terms of the football, it's been a unifying event inside the United States and outside the country has shown a different perspective, I think, of

America following the torturous politics so far of the Trump years.

But once again, Donald Trump has found a way to make himself the biggest story. I thought, what was very interesting, what Betsy just had to say,

was that apparently the U.S. -- that seems to mean the U.S. government provided additional evidence to FIFA about that VAR decision from the

Balogun challenge, and that supposedly was instrumental in getting this suspension or ban suspended.

And that does seem rather strange, a government intervening from the outside, and that I think is what worries so many people about this. It's

that the impression that the World Cup will not be just decided on the pitch, but could be decided by political influence off the pitch, and I

think that raises big questions for FIFA, especially for the rest of this tournament.

You know, why would every other country whose player gets a red card not get their suspension put on hold for the rest of the tournament?

So, big questions sportingly in terms of the integrity of the competition, and once again politics encroaches into sports. In fact, you know, people

talk about how politics should never encroach into sport, but sport is often the most political thing on the planet.

GIOKOS: You're right, it always encroaches, it finds a way.

You know, there's a lot of ironies in this, because Balogun is only a U.S. citizen because of birthright citizenship. He was in fact born there while

his parents were on vacation, and of course that's exactly what Trump was just fighting against in the Supreme Court. So, what does it say about

Trump, essentially?

COLLINSON: Well, I think we know that Donald Trump has always been a transactional figure. Clearly, Trump, who is actually quite a knowledgeable

sports fan, he's not a -- it's not like he's just discovered soccer. zyou know, he goes back to the days of Pele in the 1970s watching the sport.

Clearly, he watched the game, but there are often times when he sees a political advantage.

He, I think, has seen here a way to leverage his relationship with Gianni Infantino, you know, this is how Donald Trump operates. He uses his power

to try to get what he wants, and on Truth Social, he was out there proclaiming a win. It's interesting that there's been no real attempt by

the White House to walk away from this story. The idea that Trump has weighed in on this, presumably he thinks it's going to be popular with

American soccer fans.

The birthright citizenship thing, as you -- as you mentioned, is very interesting. Balogun was born in Brooklyn because his parents were here,

his parents were Nigerian, and because he was born here, he has the right to become an American citizen by birth, even though he grew up in England,

and now plays for Monaco. He started to play for U.S. team relatively recently.

And the goal that he scored in the last round before he was sent off came two days, or a day, in fact, after the Supreme Court turned down President

Donald Trump's appeal to get birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the Constitution, overturned.

So, you can see, as I was saying, President Donald Trump is often a transactional person who doesn't necessarily see the linkage between issues

that everybody else does.

GIOKOS: Well, Stephen Collinson, we appreciate your analysis, as always. Thanks so much for joining us.

Now, people across Kyiv and the surrounding region are beginning the cleanup after a massive Russian barrage of drones and ballistic missiles

killed at least 18 people overnight. The strikes came just one day before President Trump departs for the NATO summit in Ankara.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is urging allies to provide more Patriot air defense missiles. Ahead of the trip, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir

Putin for nearly 90 minutes on the fourth of July. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Cairo with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think because President Zelenskyy will be here in person, and he's a powerful and

emotionally collective figure, you know, with these NATO leaders, he will be pressing the point that NATO needs urgent air defenses.

[10:10:14]

I mean, just look at what happened overnight last night, - 66 ballistic missiles, 29 of them got through. Ukraine used to be able to do better than

that. Partly Russia has got more sophisticated, faster jet-propelled ballistic missiles that can penetrate where they couldn't penetrate before.

350 drones, 18 of them landed, as you say, 12 people killed in Kyiv, five in the Kyiv region as well.

So, it is a pressing need. President Zelenskyy really wants to be able to produce and get license for making patriot missiles, defensive missiles

inside of Ukraine. It's not clear that it's going to get that, but there is a Defense Investment Fund forum meeting here tomorrow, where there's

expected to be a financial significant billions and billions, tens of billion dollars financial commitment to Ukraine to support them this year,

next year in the war against Russia.

So, that's what President Zelenskyy will be looking for. President Trump is going to be coming in here looking for something else. Who's going to be

looking to make sure that his NATO European partners, that has been leaning on for a long time to up their defense spending, five percent of GDP is

what is required by agreement. Last year of The Hague Declaration from The Hague leaders' summit of five percent GDP by 2035.

So, President Trump's going to be looking to see who's doing that, who isn't doing it, and I think it's been very interesting to see how he deals

with countries like Spain that aren't stepping up and haven't so far made a commitment to getting to that level of spending over the next nine years.

And I think there's anxiety here when President Trump walks into a NATO summit these days as worried it was only a few months ago that he wanted to

take annex Greenland, which is part of Denmark, which is a NATO ally's country, and then on top of that, President Trump has been frustrated with

the way his NATO allies have not, in his opinion, stepped up sufficiently during Epic Fury, the U.S.-Iran war, he wanted more support.

So, all of that is in the mix here. President Zelenskyy will be very focused on what he needs. President Trump undoubtedly very clear and

determined to get what he wants out of it, as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: As Vladimir Putin makes a statement with his barrage of deadly strikes on Kyiv, the Russian leader is now facing trouble at home, as we

hear from CNN's Clare Sebastian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Two women screaming at each other over a spot in line at a Moscow gas station. Scenes like these

are becoming more common as intensifying Ukrainian drone attacks have caused fuel shortages and panic buying.

CNN's analysis has found that at least 50 of Russia's regions, well over half, are now officially reporting supply problems. Unofficial reports

coming from almost everywhere else. Lines outside gas stations forming from Moscow to Siberia.

And here in the Southern Krasnodar region, a video emerged showing two women berating a man for filling up a gas canister. Authorities have banned

this in multiple regions to prevent stockpiling.

Other Russians are coping with humor, turning hours'-long waits into makeshift tailgate parties, joking that the best place for a date night is

waiting for a fuel tanker to arrive, and that Russia's most expensive perfume is now gasoline.

Well, this is getting so much attention that even Putin had to address this, warning that Ukraine's --

SEBASTIAN: -- attacks are not just about causing physical damage, but about what he called an information operation.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In order to, at minimum, create uncertainty for us, or even better, to lead to a schism in

Russian society.

SEBASTIAN: All this could add to Russia's economic pain. Higher fuel prices mean higher inflation. But there is no evidence yet that it's going to

convince Putin to stop the war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: A day of mourning is extending into the evening in Tehran after the main procession for Iran's slain Supreme Leader drew hundreds of thousands

onto the streets. A hearse carrying coffins for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and family members passed through the crowds earlier. As Frederik Pleitgen

reports from inside Iran, anger is permeating the grief, a reminder CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but maintains

full editorial control of its reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is truly a historic moment that we're witnessing here in Tehran as scores of people

have come out to commemorate Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who, of course, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike along with

several family members at the beginning of the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran.

And as you can see, on the ground here there is a lot of sorrow, but there is also a lot of anger. The chants of "death to America," we're hearing

right now, and "death to Israel" have been going on almost nonstop, with people vowing revenge against the United States.

[10:15:15]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We have come here to seek the revenge for the blood of our leader and we will not abandon this goal for a

second. We will continue until we take the revenge from the killer of our leader.

PLEITGEN: Of course, we always have to point out that everybody is mourning today. Not everybody is out here. There are people who are deeply opposed

to the rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But as you can see here, right now, the government has galvanized its supporters. They have come out here en

masse.

And the message that they're sending, of course, is also directed at the United States. That if negotiations fail, Iran is ready for another fight.

Now, these processions are going to go on for another several days and then culminate when the supreme leader is laid to rest in the city of Mashhad in

eastern Iran.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: I want to bring in Mohammad Ali Shabani in London. He's the editor of Amwaj.media and a Middle East scholar. Really good to have you with us,

Mohammad. Really important moment.

And we just heard Fred Pleitgen's reporting there, and you could hear the chanting, you know, death to America, death to Israel, revenge on Trump as

well. Tell me about the significance of this moment, this funeral procession, as we've been witnessing it over the last few days.

MOHAMMAD ALI SHABANI, EDITOR, AMWAJ.MEDIA: So, I think one of the most interesting aspects of this is that this funeral is taking place four

months after Khamenei was actually killed. Iran was caught in a war until April, and there's been a ceasefire now, and we're now in the middle of a

60-day negotiation process, a process which can be extended.

So, I think this alone sends a message that Iran took its time planning this. The apparent intention of this war was to dislodge the state, or at

least weaken it, and now the state is responding by saying that we are able to rally our base, these millions of people, out into the streets, we are

still in command, we're still in control. I think this message of defiance, the timing of it coming now in the middle of these negotiations, having

delayed it for months after the actual killing, that in itself, I think, is a major message.

GIOKOS: Yes, and it's a really important point. I mean, millions of Iranians have taken to the street.

So, three of Khamenei's sons appeared at Sunday prayers, but his successor, Mojtaba, did not. And if he stays out of sight, what does that signal about

the leadership? And if he does appear, what message would that send?

ALI SHABANI: Absolutely, many experts have highlighted that there is not just Mojtaba, many other senior high-ranking officials have not appeared in

public, and I think obviously there is a security consideration there, that there's still a fear of being targets for assassination, and this in itself

also projects a signal that while the state is in control, it's able to rally its base, it's still very much paranoid, and they have good reasons.

This whole funeral is about assassination of the previous supreme leader.

So, I think the fact that they are still refraining from appearing in public shows that they don't believe assassination is a non-possibility, or

that war may not resume. There's still a chance that there may be a confrontation, that Israel itself, apart from the United States, may take

action against one's top leaders. So, this paranoia kind of permeates the environment.

GIOKOS: All right, Mohammad Ali Shaban, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate those insights.

All right. We are tracking news out of the Oval Office. President Trump is taking questions from reporters. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very smart of these, like people like this, that the numbers they're doing now would be

happening. They've never seen anything like it.

Think of it, take the most successful Olympics or the most successful FIFA, and you look at what's happened, you look at the numbers for this in the

United States, just compared to FIFA, and it's numerous times more, it's not like 10 percent more, two percent more, five percent more, which is

more expected. It's like four times more successful than anything they've ever done.

In fact, I said to Gianni, let's do it again next time, and he said that would be hard. I said, no, you do it again, but at the same time you give

it to somebody else for the next one, I don't know, it's a little crazy idea.

But all I did -- all I did, I asked for a review, because I didn't think it was a foul, and you know, again, I'm good at this stuff, I didn't think it

was a foul, I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled, that was not a -- that was not a guy punching

somebody in the face or anything that you know would be different, and I think it's -- I think it's a terrible -- if they wouldn't allow, you know,

a top player, maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the team to play, I think it would have had a big stain, and I related just I feel, I

didn't tell him what to do. I can't tell him what to do.

[10:20:26]

But and I don't believe he made the decision. I think it was a committee that made the decision, and they made the right decision, because number

one, it wasn't a foul, and you want to see a game with your best players, you don't want to say, how would you feel if I took -- you know, we take

Messi out with low -- you know, he ran into somebody, or we took Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, you bunked into somebody, we're going to take you out of a game, he's great, or Harry Kane. Harry Kane, we're going to take you out of the

game, Harry, because you happen to hit somebody a little bit harder than -- you can't -- you can't do that. If you would have taken him out, I think --

I think it would have really stained this incredible champion.

We got to have our best players, and they've got -- Belgium's got a great team, by the way. We have our best players, and they have to have their

best, and if we win or we lose, it's fair.

Otherwise, let's say we lost him and we lose the game, it would be a terrible thing.

So, I think they made a really brilliant decision. I think the referee's call was horrible, and nobody talks about that. They talk about the red

card like it's fine. Nobody talks the referee's decision to red card. I didn't know what the hell a red card was. When I found out, I said, you got

to be kidding. This guy just hands up. OK, your best player is not going to play next week or in the next game. I said, wow, that's a lot of power.

That's terrible.

But then I looked at his past and wasn't so great. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, have you already talked to the Belgian Prime Minister before the game?

TRUMP: I didn't think of it, but I would. He's a good man. I will tell you this, the people in Belgium, if they win the game, they can be very proud.

If they would win the game with a player missing, it would have been a different feeling. You can't do that.

And I'm very glad all I did was ask for a review. I didn't say you have to do this. This man is a smart, tough man, Gianni Infantino. He's a smart,

tough man, and his stock has gone through the roof, because what the job he's done has been great, and I feel we have to have all the best players

in the field. You can't take the best players. Yes, please.

LIAM COSGROVE, JOURNALIST, ZERO HEDGE: Thank you, Liam Cosgrove with Zero Hedge. What is your plan to facilitate broad adoption of these, and you

mentioned the communist issue, particularly that crowd to get them to participate in this? Since I see Anthony Pompliano is here, and he's

probably going to ask, is Bitcoin in any way going to be related to this in the future? Are there plans to put Bitcoin into Trump accounts?

TRUMP: Well, I'm a big crypto, I've become a big crypto guy only for one reason: if we don't have it, China is going to have it, and they would like

to have it, but now they're not even trying that hard because we've taken over crypto, but I'm a fan. I wasn't initially, I didn't know much about

it, but for some of my first term I wasn't really, I wasn't much involved, but I'd watch, and I watched it grow, and it's a huge industry.

And I got involved in a little bit for politics, you know, because I realized that a lot of people love crypto, and even me, as a businessman,

I'd see a lot of money starting to come in with Bitcoin, and you know the different forms, and I said this thing's got a lot of life.

And then, I hear China was going to make a heavy move on it, just like they do for A.I. By the way, we're leading China substantially in A.I. by

substantial, and one of the reasons is I allow when they build these big plants, I allow them to build their electric generating units, whether they

use nuclear, oil, and gas, whatever they want to use, they can use, except wind. We don't allow wind, wind is terrible, it just doesn't work, it's too

expensive, no good, bad for the environment.

But and they're building their own plants with some of the greatest electric producing plants that you've ever seen, I mean, they're teaching

the companies that produce electricity, they're teaching them how to do a plant.

So, that was my decision, that was my idea, because we have an old grid, it's tired, it's old, you can -- it would take years to fix it, and now

we're actually taking the excess energy that they make.

You know, we need more than double the energy. If you take all of the electric that we have now, you need more than double it to power that

industry, which is so shocking. When I first heard that, I said, no, you mean like a little. I couldn't believe that, Jeff. I heard more than

double.

So, all the electric we make for everything to power that one industry. Now, with that being said, it's a massive industry and it's going to be for

good.

[10:25:01]

I mean, look, we're going to have guardrails, and we have guardrails. You saw that a couple of weeks ago we were able to stop something that we

didn't like, and by the way, the company was very good. They were very good, you know that.

But it can be used for tremendous good, and mostly good, and some bad, and the bad we have to stop, but it's a massive industry.

And I think things are going to happen. You know what you're seeing here with the kids, I think something could happen in that regard too, with a

contribution to the people of our country. I'll give you a little inside information. Am I allowed to do that?

Well, we have Paul. Am I allowed to do that? That's a little inside information. Scott, you know what I'm talking about. No, I think you're

going to see a contribution made by those, because they're making tremendous amounts of money. They're also creating tremendous, the medical

-- the medical, the things that are happening in the world of medicine, because of A.I. is not even believed. I'm friends with many doctors,

because of, you know, what I'm doing as president, and I become very friendly with a lot of them. They're great. They're great as long as they

tell me I'm healthy. OK, when they tell me I'm healthy, so far so good. Where's a piece of wood?

But a couple of them got together last week, and they said we can't believe the progress that's been made in disease things that they didn't think

would happen for 10 years happened in a matter of minutes, matter of seconds. So, that's going to be used for good.

But we're leading China by a lot. We're leading everybody. Crypto is the same thing. If we didn't do it, China would do it. It's a massive industry.

And frankly, when I went very pro crypto, as you know, Biden was totally against it, but he has no idea what crypto is. He had no idea, he didn't

have a clue, but they were very violently against it. They were putting people in jail, that what they were doing to the crypto was horrible. It's

amazing it survived that onslaught. It was a weaponization of government.

So, when I went very much for it, and I must have gotten, I think I got 100 percent of the vote, but what happened is, I think it was 100 million

people. It's a big industry, and that means some pretty good things.

But what happened is, Biden, then, after he was getting killed, he was down so much, all of a sudden they became pro crypto, and their head of the SEC

was horrible, unlike Paul, who's really good. I mean, he's the best man for the job. Everybody wanted him.

But he was horrible. What he was doing to the group, they were putting people in jail, you know that better than anybody. Good people, great

prestigious people, they were putting them in jail, and I said, you got to be kidding, and they were trying to destroy the industry. OK, ready.

So, now I'm killing Biden, I'm winning by so much, and all of a sudden, he becomes totally pro crypto. They dropped all investigations of everybody,

they allowed people to come out of jail, and every time I see a crypto guy that, where they dropped an investigation, I said, you're lucky I'm

president, because they -- you know, I don't know if you know, the Biden administration became totally pro crypto that last couple of months,

because they were getting killed, because crypto has a tremendous audience.

So, yes, I'm very much for crypto, because it's -- I don't -- it's not a question of a personal thing, I -- because I let my kids do whatever the

hell they do, they can do. I don't talk to them ever, talk to them about it. I'm allowed to. I think I'm allowed to, but I don't bother, because

this is a much higher -- this office is a much higher calling.

So, I make as President the President of the United States get essentially $2.5 million for four years, right? Spread -- wait a minute, it's spread

out over a period of four years, it's about $2.5 million. I waive my salary.

Now, I figured, because we've had other wealthy presidents, we've had Kennedy, and we've had FDR, was very wealthy. Teddy Roosevelt was wealthy,

and one of the wealthiest, believe it or not, was George Washington, who wasn't in the White House, but there are pictures of him surveying this

ground. He's the one that sort of picked the location, picked a -- I think he made a good choice, he picked a good location.

But George Washington had two desks in his pre-White House, one was -- and they were right next to each other, one was for business and one was for

the presidency, had two desks in the same room.

And so, you're allowed to, but I choose not to, I don't talk to my kids about, you know, this stuff, but I will say this, to me, crypto is a very

powerful, a lot of people are using it, Bitcoin, they're using it at levels that nobody -- I don't think anybody understands really how powerful.

And if we didn't do it, China would do it in a minute. And if we let our guard down on A.I., if I didn't come up with the idea for electric plants

producing plants, they become a utility.

[10:30:03]

Basically, these guys producing, you might as well put them down. Paul, I think you should mark them down as utilities, because, frankly, in many

ways, I'm more impressed by their electric plants, and they are building them on top of the buildings, alongside of the buildings, standalones right

next door, but you have to see some of the electric producing degenerating plants that they are making.

Nobody has ever seen, because they are brilliant people, and it's a fantastic thing. But if I didn't come up with that idea, maybe somebody

else would have. I doubt it, because it's too simple. I mean, it's such a simple idea.

Do you know that your friends, Michael, when I came up with that, and I told Mark Zuckerberg, I told Bezos, I told all of the people, A.I., Sam,

Elon, I told them all. I said, no, no, I'm going to let you build your own plant, and I'm going to get your fast approvals. They thought I was

kidding.

You know, they said -- and they would submit plans without an electric plant, and I'd get calls from Lee Zeldin, who is a star, environmental fast

approvals, good approvals, but fast. Then, they call up, they say, "sir, these plants are not taking advantage. And I call him and say, why are not

you producing? They said, we thought you were -- every one of them, they thought it was kidding, because they can't believe it.

Number one, they can't believe that they are approved in a period of a matter of weeks, because if this was somebody else, it would be 20 years

before -- they are all under construction. We get -- we do rapid approvals, and some are nuclear plants, because nuclear is now really hot and safe.

You know, I was -- I was not a huge proponent until two or three years ago, and then, I saw what they -- my uncle was a big nuclear guy at MIT. He knew

nuclear better than anybody, I think, anybody in the world, probably. He was the smartest guy. He was at MIT, the head for 41 years.

And he said to me one day, he said, you know, nuclear is going to be the most important thing, but it's also got to be watched -- got to be watched

very carefully, because it can build the world, but it can also destroy the world. He said that. I said, Uncle John, that was a long time ago, but he

was exactly right. He called it exactly right.

But what they've done with nuclear, in terms of generating energy, is absolutely -- you know, a submarine can run at full speed for 30 years

without having to refuel? The only thing it has to do is come up every 90 days for food. They can't solve -- they can't solve the food problem.

But think of it, a submarine without having to gas up can run for 30 years at full speed without stopping. I mean, would you -- who would believe a

thing like that? But fortunately, we have the best technology, and we have the best submarines. It's something we lead the world in by 15 years. Any

other questions?

Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much Mr. President.

TRUMP: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, thank you so much, Mr. President (INAUDIBLE)

On the Trump accounts. SpaceX's president has said that she is going to donate shares to the Trump accounts. Have you spoken at all with Elon Musk

about further share donations, as well as other corporate leaders have.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: As you get, anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About share donations --

TRUMP: Look, I'm like a cheerleader for geniuses. I love geniuses. I love high I.Q. people. He is a high I.Q. person. I love high I.Q. people. And I

speak to Elon, I speak to Mark, I speak to Jeff, I speak to everybody.

By the way, in the first term, less so. In fact, at my first inauguration, none of them were standing behind me. They were just the opposite, and now

at this last inauguration, every one of them was standing behind me. It was sort of amazing.

No, I speak to all of them, and I encourage them. I want them to be tremendously successful. Now, there is a thing called TikTok. Have you

heard of it? I was watching a show this morning, Maria Bartiromo, she is fantastic. And on her show, they were talking about the dangers of TikTok

and Chinese, you know, a whole thing with spying, and what they are doing with that.

Well, except it was announced about two days ago, the new numbers just came out, you know, who the number one person in TikTok is by far? Trump. Me. I

just got -- they -- I am number one. Like, Taylor Swift was number 11. I'm number one in TikTok by far.

And the numbers just came out, and I said, well, you know, I'm hearing about how they influence. They are talking about their tremendous danger,

because they influence. But if they influence so badly, I mean, I'm saying all things, like I love our country, we got to stop communism, we got to

this and that, we are going to do a lot -- we are doing a lot of things.

But I'm by far number one. It was sent to me by, you know, the list comes out. Number one, number two, I was number one by a lot. So, I guess maybe,

I don't know, maybe they are bad, maybe they are not. I know one thing: great American people, tremendous business people, and companies bought it.

[10:35:07]

I called President Xi, and everyone said he was a hard no. He was a hard no, but I said, you know, it's a good thing for TikTok, but it's good for

us too. American companies, great ones, own our TikTok, and it's very influential, but I'm number one by a lot. So, you know, I hear this thing

was on today.

Gordon Chang, I like Gordon Chang, but he is always so negative. You know, nobody has been tougher in China than me, but Gordon Chang, and he is a

nice guy. It's like the world is falling down. It's not true. It's not true. We have to be careful, because China is a great competitor.

But, you know, he was talking about, we must stop TikTok. I'm number one on TikTok. I think, it helped me win the election in a landslide, if you want

to know the truth.

Yes, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Mr. President?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- work on the White House? Are you building a helipad? Are you building the helipad --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Yes, that's a --

Yes. So, for 50 years, we have been landing helicopters on grass. The grass is wet, soggy. The helicopters sometimes miss their little mark.

You know, they send people out, Marines. I watch them do it. They march out so beautiful, great guys. They have a piece of metal that he put down, and

except for the fact that these pilots are so good, they almost hit the mark all the time. But sometimes they miss their half the size of this desk.

Think of it, you are landing a big chopper, but you know, years ago, and they just got produced, but during my administration, they ordered brand

new helicopters, the big ones, the ones for president, it's called Marine One. And our other Marine Ones are about 40 years old. They are all like

Air Force One. You know, it's time to make a change.

And other presidents wouldn't do that, because I think it's not good to make a change to luxury, but you got to do it. You know, other countries

have them. So, Sikorsky gave -- we ordered a number of Sikorskys, as the helicopters back and forth. Well, they are about 2-1/2 times more powerful

than the old ones.

And when you land on the grass, it's not that the grass gets discolored, it gets ripped out. Ripped out. And it was all over. They landed at once, and

nobody planned for this. This was a little bit of a planning mistake.

So, they landed the helicopter, and half of the grass was sitting in front of the Oval Office front door. The rest of it was scattered all over the --

I mean, literally it didn't singe it. It also singed it, by the way, but it literally lift -- because of the power, it's tremendous.

And everybody said, well, we will keep using the old helicopters when we have to land at the White House, and for everything else we used the new

helicopters. They said, that's a pretty expensive deal. You wouldn't do that for your company, you would figure out an answer.

So, I said, because I have helicopters, and three of them. I said, because they have been great for my business. I think, they are incredible.

So, Sikorskys -- Sikorsky 76, right?

And I always was lucky, I always got helipads, other people don't, very hard to get. The hardest thing to get is a helipad. OK. There is no harder

zoning thing to get is a helipad. And I had like seven of them at different places, so I could go around by helicopter.

And I said to the people, have you ever thought -- these are generals, Air Force generals that are brilliant. And you know, you get used to a certain

thing, they bring out the metal. But this was -- now, the metal didn't work, because the power of these helicopters is so great, it ripped up the

grass, right?

So, I said, has anybody ever thought of a helipad? Because I build them and they go quickly and solve all of the problems. (INAUDIBLE) laughing. It's

true, right? It's crazy.

So, it was funny. I said, has anyone ever thought of a helipad? I had, like, six generals in front of me, and they are going like, wow, that's a

good idea.

You know, it's like the paper clip. It was such a simple adventure. Probably, he says that about a laptop. To him. it's a simple thing to other

people, wow. But the paperclip.

200 years ago, a gentleman came up with the idea for a paper clip, and he made a lot of money, became very rich, not as rich as Michael Dell, but

rich in those money.

And what happened is everybody was jealous. They said, why didn't we think of this? Same thing with a helipad.

So, now, we are building a helipad. Beautiful helipad. And it's got the seal of the White House on it in granite and carved granites, a really -- a

beautiful thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GIOKOS: All right. President Trump in the Oval Office, covering a wide range of topics, including the race with China when it comes to

cryptocurrency. A.I., and then, of course, importantly, electric vehicles, building of power plants.

But we also heard today the announcement around Trump accounts, that is why you see some of the executives there of both the New York Stock Exchange,

as well as NASDAQ

[10:40:05]

And importantly, he actually commented extensively of the FIFA decision to suspend the red card against player in the USA team. We have Coy Wire

joining us now.

Coy, great to have you with us.

I mean, wide range of topics there, but I want to focus on soccer. I want to focus on football right now.

We heard President Trump there, and he says, you know, he didn't say categorically to, you know, reverse the decision, but rather review the

decision.

What did you make of some of what President Trump said? Because he actually reiterated something else that I've read all day, that some believe the

referees' decision for the red card was actually quite harsh.

COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, there was a highly controversial red call, and when we reached out to U.S. Soccer, they had told us that

they were not aware of any mechanism to appeal it. Of course, we do know now that things happen. Some taking claim for what has happened more than

others.

But listen, when this news broke less than 48 hours before kickoff, that FIFA overturned Folarin Balogun's red car suspension, jaws dropped.

Translation is that America's hottest striker is back.

This is the first time in a men's World Cup history that a suspension has been rescinded during the tournament. The U.S. celebrating the decision.

Belgium, let's just say they are not exactly sending FIFA a thank you card. Here is what the coaches had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAURICIO POCHETTINO, HEAD COACH, UNITED STATES MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: I think we celebrate all that decision. We were punished enough against Bosnia,

Herzegovina to play with 10 men, 99.9 percent that we all, you know, agree that was an unfair red car.

RUDI GARCIA, COACH, BELGIUM (through translator): I didn't realize that at FIFA headquarters, July 5th was the equivalent of April 1st in Europe. That

was news to me.

The Belgian Football Association isn't defending itself, it's defending football in general, the integrity, and ethics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. Flo is a game changer, leaving the U.S. with three goals this World Cup. Suddenly, the conversation is all about him.

Balogun has become the nightmare the defenders cannot wake up from. The American attack is simply better when he is on the pitch.

Now comes the biggest mountain yet, the Americans chasing just their third ever World Cup quarterfinal. First, since 2002 and standing in their way

will be Belgium, led by Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Jeremy Doku.

This Belgian squad's base camp has been right here in Seattle, the entire tournament. But there is one thing they have not yet experienced. That

70,000 Americans. That field, I've played on it during my NFL career. It is one of the loudest places I have ever played.

So, let's see. We might get something registering on the Richter scale if the U.S. comes out and does what they have done every game so far, and that

is score first --

(CROSSTALK)

GIOKOS: Oh, my gosh.

WIRE: And now, they have a great chance to do so with Flo Balogun back.

GIOKOS: So, quite -- very quickly, what's it like being back there, having played there in that stadium?

WIRE: I just got goosebumps, legit got goosebumps when you asked me that. I mean, great memories. This is, you always hate playing away games, but this

was one of the places you actually look forward to, because it's such a rare experience. It gets so loud. I cannot wait to see it again this time

as a fan.

GIOKOS: Coy, I wish you all the best tonight. Enjoy it. And, of course, a big game. USA versus Belgium. Despite the controversy, you know, we should

focus on the sports. Have a good time. Coy Wire for us.

And that's it for me, Eleni Giokos. "WORLD SPORT" is up next. Stick with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)

END