United States president Donald Trump has claimed that the Club World Cup trophy lifted by Chelsea after their recent victory was actually a replica because the original is now a permanent fixture in the Oval Office.

Trump, who attended the final alongside members of his cabinet and FIFA president Gianni Infantino, played a central role in the post-match ceremony.

He and Infantino jointly handed over the trophy to Chelsea captain Reece James, though Trump’s presence caused visible confusion among the Chelsea players and prompted quiet pleas from Infantino to step aside.

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The trophy, according to Trump, never made it back to Chelsea in London.

“I said, When are you going to pick up the trophy? [They said] ‘We’re never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We’re making a new one,’” Trump revealed in an interview with official Club World Cup broadcaster DAZN. “And they actually made a new one. So that was quite exciting, but it is in the Oval [Office] right now.”

The claim suggests that Chelsea, fresh off their hard-fought win in the tournament’s final, were handed a newly minted replica while the original remained in Washington D.C.

Trump’s involvement in FIFA-related events has become more frequent since the beginning of his second term in office.

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In March, Infantino presented the Club World Cup trophy at an event in the Oval Office, and it has remained there ever since.

In the same DAZN interview, Trump mused about issuing an executive order to rename soccer as “football” in the U.S., and claimed world leaders have praised America as “the hottest country in the world,” referring to its economic and political status.

Speaking about FIFA’s ongoing partnerships with the U.S. and upcoming international tournaments, Trump said: “It’s about unity. It’s about everybody getting together and a lot of love between countries. I guess this is probably the most international sport, so it can really bring the world together.”

United States President Donald Trump has weighed in on the debate over the greatest football player of all time.

Trump was in attendance at the Club World Final on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, as Chelsea overwhelmed Paris Saint-Germain in the first half and beat the European champions 3-0 on Sunday in the final of the first expanded Club World Cup.

Asked after the game during a DAZN broadcast to name his all-time favourite footballer, Trump named Pelé as the greatest of all time.

READ ALSO:Chelsea Thrash PSG 3-0 To Win FIFA Club World Cup

Trump also reminisced about Pelé’s time in the United States, especially his stint with the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct NASL, where the Brazilian legend played from 1975 until his retirement in 1977.

He said, “Many years ago, when I was young, they brought a player named Pele to play, and he played for a team called the Cosmos.

“He was the inspiration we had, and this place was packed. It was an earlier version of this stadium, but right here in the Meadowlands, and it was Pele.

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“I don’t want to date myself, but that was a long time ago. I was a young guy, and I came to watch Pele, and he was fantastic. And I would, I’d say, probably go old-fashioned. That’s like saying Babe Ruth, but I would say Pele was so great.”

Trump has openly expressed his intention to use this year’s Club World Cup and the management lp, will align with the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said he was “just trying to separate the players” after being caught up in a scuffle on the pitch at the end of his team’s 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.

Television footage showed the PSG boss raising his arm to the neck of Joao Pedro, who had earlier scored Chelsea’s third goal following a Cole Palmer brace at the MetLife Stadium.

“There was pushing and shoving, a lot of tension and pressure. The situation obviously should have been avoided,” Luis Enrique told reporters.

“My intention was clearly to just try to separate the players.”

READ ALSO:Chelsea Thrash PSG 3-0 To Win FIFA Club World Cup

He admitted that Chelsea were deserved winners as he urged his team to enjoy a short summer break at the end of a remarkable campaign.

Defeat for PSG denied them what would have been a stunning clean sweep of trophies as they failed to add the Club World Cup to the UEFA Champions League and French league and cup double they claimed in May.

“I think over the course of the game they deserved their win. They played very well,” Luis Enrique said.

“I said beforehand that Chelsea were a very good team and they deserve their victory and the trophy.”

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A historic season for PSG ends after 11 months and 65 matches, and they now have exactly one month before returning to action in August — there will be another trophy on the line in their next game, against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup.

“I think is important for us to enjoy our holidays. They will be very short. But we need to make the most of them,” he said.

PSG’s victory in this year’s Champions League also means they will have another crack at winning the Club World Cup when they participate in the next edition, which is due to take place in 2029.

“I think this tournament was born out of the need to know who the best team in the world is. I think it is an interesting format and I think it could become a real top-level competition,” said the Spaniard.

“There is just the difficulty of finding space for it in the current calendar, but I think it is an interesting tournament — we had the chance to win it but there was another team who were better than us in the final.”