What does Donald Trump’s second presidency mean for the world of sport?

Published

8 months ago

January 22, 2025

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It’s the craze that spread from NFL fields to the UFC octagon and, in football, from the US national team to Barnsley.

An endearing imitation of Donald Trump‘s interpretation of a YMCA dance adopted from the rally stages.

Christian Pulisic – American soccer’s poster boy – called it “fun” rather than political, after adopting the alternate fist-pumping move to celebrate scoring following the presidential election in November.

But its popularity signals that associating with the returning president is now far from taboo in the sports world, after the snubs of the first term.

That will be welcome news for President Trump as sport is far from a sideshow this time around and instead, central to his agenda and projection on the world stage.

There was a constant campaign pledge to ban transgender athletes from single-gender sport – reasserted in the splendour of an inauguration ball on Monday night.

The run-up to the election also saw Trump use mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a route to attracting male voters. And World Wrestling Entertainment’s former boss even has the education brief in his cabinet.

Beyond the political, sport has a personal appeal to Trump too.

Golf has never just been a respite from politics or business, but a lucrative venture if he keeps Saudi Arabia sweet – with the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund bringing its breakaway series to his courses.

Then there’s the prestige of being in office to host the men’s World Cup and Summer Olympics.

For once, Trump could see the benefit of losing in 2020 – enabling him to be a rare leader of a nation during the two biggest sporting shows on the planet – while still making false claims at the Capitol this week about that “rigged” election.

When the US hosted the 1994 World Cup, Alexi Lalas was the icon of the national team with his distinctive unruly red hair and beard.

Early to join the MAGA movement, he has seen a shift from those who once approached him in “hushed tones” while travelling the country.

“I think that many people got to a point where they were sick and tired of hiding what they felt was common sense,” Lalas told Sky News.

“It made me sad that they felt the pressure and that they were ultimately scared to express that.”

There can be a backlash from those not expecting such a strident right-leaning approach from the player they might remember as a “90s grunge hippie type”.

“I have lost friends because of it,” said the Fox Sports commentator who was in Washington for the presidential parties. “There are people that view me differently than they did before because now they know my political affiliation.

“I’m not going to apologise for it. I believe that I’m a good person, that I want good things.”

The World Cup will be unprecedented. Not just being the largest with 48 teams, but bringing an influx of millions of sports fans, unlike anything seen in the country before.

“[Trump] recognises the power and the draw of sports and being associated with that,” Lalas said.

How will pledges to FIFA to allow ticket-holding fans entry collide with a clampdown on immigration? An early test will be when the new men’s Club World Cup is used as a test event this summer.

Inside Trump’s alliance with FIFA boss Infantino

It’s a platform not just for the players, but for the Trump-Gianni Infantino alliance to dominate.

Few have ingratiated themselves with Trump like the FIFA leader. Public displays of loyalty through the scandals of the first term were rewarded with a prime spot at the inauguration, just behind the president and his predecessors on Monday.

The boss of a global football governing body that promotes non-discrimination listened to – but not always obviously applauding – an address that vowed to eliminate diversity and inclusion programmes, and only recognise male and female genders.

This is a country with plans to bid again for the Women’s World Cup, which for the first time in 2023 featured a transgender and non-binary player – Canada’s Quinn.

Shutting trans women out of women’s sport was on Trump’s mind before, and after, taking the oath of office. His go-to topic for rally speeches is now high on the Oval Office agenda.

The vow to protect the fairness of women’s sport is perhaps persuading female athletes with rival loyalties to at least consider backing the Republican.

“This was a very decisive issue for many women like me, who consider themselves largely Democrat and have been their entire lives,” cyclist Evie Edwards, part of the ICONS advocacy group, told Sky News.

“It’s been very, very difficult over the last five years to get voices heard.

“The fact that they’re just now being heard, the fact that President Trump announced this on day one in office, is extremely encouraging for the majority of us.

“Regardless, if your party affiliation is Republican or Democrat, it’s an extremely important, necessary step.”

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How do trans athletes feel about Trump?

To the marginalised trans athlete community, facing discrimination in wider society, there is a feeling of being targeted for political gain and excluded from the sports they love.

Trans male wrestler Mack Beggs is troubled by the constant misgendering of Paris 2024 women’s boxing champion Imane Khelif by Trump, in campaign speeches based on disputed gender eligibility tests on the Algerian.

“Overall [Trump is] going to use anything that he can to exploit any little thing when it comes to those major events,” Beggs told Sky News. “I think that using Imane as a pawn and a tool in order to elevate that conversation and fan irrational fear of trans athletes being in sports is kind of a little pathetic.”

And it is about more than just having the chance to compete.

“The majority of my community is scared because it’s not just about the sports,” said Beggs, who still dreams of fighting one day in the Trump-loving UFC. “It’s about overall our rights being taken away as a whole.

“We start with sports and that’s going to go on to the medical bills as well.”

And Trump has rapidly shut down government accessibility initiatives – contradicting the societal change promoted by the Paralympics which come to LA in 2028.

But will anyone in sport stand up to Trump if inflammatory rhetoric and meddling risks overshadowing sports? Trump called Paris 2024 a “disgrace” over the opening ceremony depiction of the Last Supper, fuelling an Olympic culture war.

Sebastian Coe could be running the Olympics by the time of Los Angeles 2028 if he wins the IOC presidential election in March.

“I’m not entirely unused to dealing with politicians,” Lord Coe, a former Conservative MP, told Sky News. “I understand the language. I understand the pressures. It’s a landscape I’m comfortable in. But sport has to maintain its independence and its autonomy.”

In a Trump world that is not always possible – as the campaign trail and his first two days in office have made clear. And not every sports leader wants to maintain their independence, seduced by the entry into the orbit of real global power.

US

Charlie Kirk suspect Tyler Robinson ‘was in romantic relationship with transgender roommate’ – Utah governor

Published

3 hours ago

September 15, 2025

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Charlie Kirk suspect Tyler Robinson 'was in romantic relationship with transgender roommate' - Utah governor

The suspect accused of shooting dead right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk was in a romantic relationship with his transgender roommate, Utah’s governor has said.

Tyler Robinson, 22, from Washington in Utah, is due to appear in court on Tuesday after Kirk, 31, was killed during one of his rallies at Utah Valley University on Wednesday.

Robinson is being held without bail on suspicion of aggravated murder, a felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, and obstruction of justice.

According to Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer James Cox, he was in a relationship with his roommate – who was in the process of transitioning.

“The roommate was a romantic partner,” he told NBC News’s Meet The Press on Sunday. “We can confirm that that roommate is a boyfriend who is transitioning from male to female.”

He added that the roommate has been “incredibly cooperative” and had “no idea that this [the shooting] was happening”, but that Robinson has not been cooperating with police.

Kirk, who co-founded the conservative student movement Turning Point USA, regularly expressed anti-LGBTQ views.

The motive of the shooting is unclear, and officials have not said whether Robinson’s relationship – or his roommate’s gender – is relevant to their investigation.

Authorities are still trying to get access to cloud storage linked to Robinson, according to NBC.

Mr Cox has previously said the suspect came from a “conservative family, but his ideology was very different than his family”, adding in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he had been “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology”.

According to the governor, his relatives have said Robinson was critical of Kirk, saying he was “full of hate and spreading hate” and “talked about why he didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had”.

The 22-year-old is due to be charged when he makes his first court appearance on Tuesday, according to the Utah County attorney’s office.

He was in his third year of an electrical apprenticeship programme at Dixie Technical College in St George, Utah, NBC reported.

A spokesperson for Utah Valley University, where Kirk was speaking when he was shot in the neck, said Robinson studied there for one semester in 2021.

Kristin Schwiermann, a neighbour of his family’s, described him as “smart” and “quiet”, and added that he “never caused any problems”.

Memorial to be held at Super Bowl venue

It was revealed on Sunday that a memorial to Kirk will be held at the stadium where the 2023 US Super Bowl was held.

State Farm Stadium, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, is home to the American football team the Arizona Cardinals and can hold 60,000 people.

President Donald Trump has said he plans to attend and will posthumously award Kirk with the highest US civilian honour – the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Kirk, who hosted his own self-titled podcast, had millions of followers on social media.

He was a regular visitor at the White House and has been credited with the increase in young men voting for Mr Trump at the 2024 presidential election.

US

‘Bella Ciao’ to ‘OwO’ – what the engravings on bullets in Charlie Kirk case may refer to

Published

15 hours ago

September 14, 2025

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'Bella Ciao' to 'OwO' - what the engravings on bullets in Charlie Kirk case may refer to

Experts have described engravings left on ammunition at the scene of the Charlie Kirk shooting as “extremely online” – so what do the words and symbols actually mean?

Authorities said on Friday that the suspect accused of fatally shooting the Conservative activist left behind bullet casings featuring references to fascism, video games and internet memes.

To those who aren’t chronically online, the messages may appear to be total gibberish. But for others, specifically gamers, many of the meanings will have immediately been clear.

Here’s what each of the casings reference – and why experts have cautioned against using them to make assumptions about the suspect’s political leanings.

1. ‘notices, bulges, OWO, what’s this?’

This writing appears to reference a meme about the furry subculture, which centres on an interest in anthropomorphic animal characters.

Within the furry community, OwO is an emoticon of a cute face (with the Os as the eyes and the w as a cute mouth or nose) and used as a way of flirting – but outside the community, it is often used in a mocking way, or as part of trolling.

It’s incredibly common for phrases used by people who are “extremely online” – which essentially means highly engaged in online culture – to have double or multiple meanings.

For this reason, experts have cautioned against trying to interpret messages such as these engravings to determine an attacker’s political leanings or motive.

Jamie Cohen, an assistant professor of media studies who studies memes at Queens College in New York, said: “Oftentimes this extremely online disguise is meant to be doublespeak.”

Speaking to Sky News’ US partner NBC News, he continued: “It’s meant specifically for someone like me to dive into what they would call meme culture and declare them something so that they get more press.

“So it could just be another bait and switch for researchers who are falling into the same trap that they are designing for more viral exposure.”

2. ‘Hey, fascist! Catch ↑ → ↓↓↓’

When asked by Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews what the messages on the casings meant, Utah governor Spencer Cox said the writing referring to a fascist “speaks for itself”.

The second half of the inscription – the directional arrows – were immediately identified by some gamers.

Helldivers 2 players have pointed out that the arrow sequence is the code used to summon a 500kg bomb in the 2024 game – which itself has been interpreted as a satire of fascism.

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3. ‘Oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao’

Bella Ciao is a classic Italian song that became a popular anti-fascism anthem during Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship.

It has won renewed popularity in recent years thanks, in part, to featuring multiple times in Netflix’s Spanish television series Money Heist.

A popular remix of Bella Ciao has hit more than 260 million streams on Spotify worldwide and it’s become a favourite on TikTok, as well as within the gaming community.

4. ‘If you read this, you are gay lmao’

This juvenile insult, using the well-known abbreviation for ‘laughing my ass off’, is a common ‘gotcha’ phrase and simply appears to mock investigators.

The messages, another expert has said, make one thing clear – the suspect was likely seeking fame.

Lindsay Hahn, a University at Buffalo associate professor who researches ideological extremism and the ways in which perpetrators of violence justify their actions, said the messages do not necessarily indicate a specific ideology.

“But what they do indicate, is that the shooter wanted to get a message across and therefore be talked about online,” she told NBC.

“It sort of seems like these messages, at the very minimum, were selected because he knew they were going to be talked about.”

US

Charlie Kirk memorial to be held in Arizona stadium

Published

17 hours ago

September 14, 2025

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Charlie Kirk memorial to be held in Arizona stadium

A memorial for right-wing US influencer Charlie Kirk will be held next Sunday, in a stadium that previously hosted the 2023 Super Bowl.

The 31-year-old, who was a close ally of Donald Trump, was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday while speaking to university students at an event in Utah.

His appearance at Utah Valley University was part of a planned tour of US college campuses.

Turning Point USA, the prominent youth conservative organisation of which Mr Kirk was the president and co-founder, is holding the event at State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix.

The venue is the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and can hold more than 60,000 people.

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from Washington, Utah, is being held without bail after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm and obstruction of justice charges, according to court documents.

The motivation behind the fatal shooting is still unclear, but Utah governor Spencer Cox commented that Robinson described Mr Kirk as “full of hate and spreading hate”.

Robinson is due to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday, when he is also expected to be charged, the Utah County attorney’s office said.

President Trump, who will be back in the US after his UK state visit next week, has previously said he plans to attend Mr Kirk’s funeral.

Mr Trump has said he will be posthumously awarding Mr Kirk with the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Mr Kirk’s body was flown back from Salt Lake City to his home state of Arizona on Air Force Two on Thursday, with the US vice president and close friend JD Vance on board.

His widow, Erika Kirk, has vowed to continue his campus tour and his radio and podcast shows.

Speaking publicly for the first time in a livestreamed video on Friday, she said: “To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die.”

“It won’t. I refuse to let that happen.”

She said she told her three-year-old daughter: “Daddy went on a work trip with Jesus.”

Mr Kirk, who was a father of two, had millions of followers across social media.

A makeshift memorial to Mr Kirk has been set up at Utah Valley University, with flowers, American flags and handwritten messages left at the main entrance.

The university says there will be increased security when classes resume on Wednesday.