Mayor Wu Responds to President Trump's Threat to Pull World Cup Games Out of Boston

Dmitri Bolt | October 15, 2025 5:00 PM

The Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, has responded to President Trump, after he said that he would pull the FIFA World Cup Games from the city next year, following an incident that occurred in which over 100 people took part in a street racing takeover in early October.

She said in a statement, "Boston is honored and excited to host World Cup matches, and we look forward to welcoming fans from around the world to our beautiful city, the cradle of liberty and city of champions."

In other words, she completely disregarded the threat from President Trump and is expecting to move forward with hosting the World Cup.

Boston is currently slated to host seven matches next summer, including five group-stage games, one Round of 32 fixture, and the first quarterfinal on July 9.

The takeover that triggered the spat occurred on October 5, shortly past 2 am, according to the Boston Police Department. When officers responded to the scene, they found people trying to attack police cruisers with fireworks, cones, poles, and other items. One police cruiser was engulfed in flames and had to be towed away from the scene.

"We can take them away. I love the people of Boston. And I know the games are sold out, but the mayor is not good. There are worse than her. At least she's intelligent. You know, some are extremely low IQ. Those bother me more. She's intelligent, but she's radical left," President Trump said. "The answer is yes, if somebody's doing a bad job, and if I feel there's unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni, the head of FIFA, who's phenomenal, and I would say, ‘Let’s move it to another location,' and he would do that. He wouldn't love to do it, but he'd do it, very easily he'd do it. And this is the right time to do it."

The Governor of Massachusetts, Maura Healey, addressed the issue on Tuesday.

"I'm committed to doing everything I can to get after this issue. That's my message today: No more," she said. "Not going to happen here. And if you do it, you're going to be punished. I'm serious."