Speaking to reporters in his typical freewheeling style on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump asserted that he could potentially move World Cup games out of cities he deemed dangerous.

“If I think it’s not safe, we’re going to move it out of that city," Trump said. "So if any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup, or for the (2028) Olympics, you know where they have Olympic overthrow right, but for the World Cup in particular, because they’re playing in so many cities, we won’t allow it. We’ll move it around a little bit. But I hope that’s not going to happen.”

Trump was specifically asked about Seattle and San Francisco.

"We’re going to make sure they’re safe," he said. "They’re run by radical left lunatics who don’t know what they’re doing.”

Aside from the logistical headaches of changing a World Cup city with less than nine months until the tournament kicks off, there are of course some jurisdictional issues with Trump's claim.

Namely, he doesn't have any authority to do what he is threatening. But that doesn't mean it would be impossible.

The city of Vancouver has made its hosting agreement with FIFA public. The contract includes a section on termination which states, in part:

"FIFA and the Member Association shall, by written notice, have the right for an extraordinary termination with immediate effect of this Host City Agreement."

The Member Association, in this case Canada Soccer, would not have to be consulted in the event FIFA decides to terminate the agreement.

"The Host City Authority agrees and acknowledges that FIFA shall be entitled to terminate this Host City Agreement without consent of the Member Association," the contract continues.

There is a further section that details how FIFA will enjoy almost full legal immunity in the event of the contract's termination.

Vancouver is, of course, in Canada, but The Athletic said that it had obtained other host city contracts through public records requests, which appear to have similar language.

Almost all of the power in these agreements is with FIFA, and it just so happens that the president of FIFA and the president of the United States have been spending quite a lot of time together recently.

Gianni Infantino has made repeated visits to the Oval Office this year, recently opened a FIFA office at Trump Tower in New York City and awarded the World Cup Draw to Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center — whose chairman happens to be one Donald J. Trump.

That's all to say that it's not hard to imagine Infantino taking any request from Trump very seriously.

The United States is set to host 78 of the 104 matches of the World Cup, with 11 host cities.

Pro Soccer Wire has reached out to FIFA for comment.

This article originally appeared on Pro Soccer Wire: Could Trump actually move World Cup games from 'dangerous' cities?

Reporting by Seth Vertelney, Pro Soccer Wire / Pro Soccer Wire

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