Politics

Revenge of the ‘hellhole’: Belgium eyes payback in US World Cup clash

Published

3 hours ago

July 6, 2026

BRUSSELS — When the United States faces Belgium in the World Cup’s round-of-16 match on Monday, the politically messy, self-effacing wannabe middle power will be eyeing revenge.

First, for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s 2016 remark that living in its capital, Brussels, was “like living in a hellhole,” the start of a still-ongoing diatribe about the impact of immigration on the European Union.

And second, for a controversial decision made Sunday night by the FIFA organizers to lift U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban — freeing him up to play against Belgium — that has sparked outrage in the small Western European country.

“This decision clearly raises many questions,” Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Prévot told POLITICO on Monday. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever responded ironically and shared an image of his cat on social media that read: “Red card? I’ll play anyway.”

“True strength lies in winning with fair play [and by following all the rules]. That’s what Belgium will do,” Jacqueline Galant, Walloon sports minister from the French-speaking liberal Reformist Movement, said on X.

The White House involvement in lobbying FIFA to scrap the ban also sparked condemnation well beyond Belgian borders.

“Red cards are not overturned by political phone calls,” former FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who was himself ousted in a massive corruption scandal that rocked the world football governing body, said on X on Monday. “Football must never become a playground for political power.”

European football federation UEFA said in a statement on Monday the decision “crossed a red line” before blasting, “We express our disbelief at such an unprecedented, incomprehensible and unjustifiable decision.”

In some ways, the clash between the U.S. and Belgium reflects a deeper ideological divide.

The European country hosts the headquarters of defense alliance NATO and is a co-founding nation of the EU — multilateral institutions that Trump and his MAGA movement have railed against from the White House.

Belgium is a political labyrinth, made up of several governments sharing control, with a federal government composed of five political parties ranging everywhere from the right wing to center-left. The country prides itself on its ability to forge political compromises. (It also holds the world record for the longest time taken to form a government.)

It is the antithesis of government when viewed from the vantage point of a U.S. president who is expanding executive power, bulldozing over the separation of powers and whose political success is rooted in confrontation and polarization, rather than compromise.

Belgian politics is a system of consensus, with strong checks and balances to keep executive power under control, said Carl Devos, Belgian political scientist at the University of Ghent. “The kind of politics that Trump practices, with so much power concentrated in the hands of one man, is unthinkable” for Belgians.

In international politics, too, “Belgium makes up for its smaller size by promoting diplomacy and rulesetting. And so respecting the rules is crucial for it. What Trump is doing clashes fundamentally with our political culture,” Devos said.Trump’s intervention in the Balogun suspension is only the most recent example of that.

Politics

Capitol agenda: Jeffries takes hands-off approach to Israel

Published

4 minutes ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Capitol agenda: Jeffries takes hands-off approach to Israel

As Democrats wrestled with how to handle a politically thorny vote, Jeffries offered caucus forums but little guidance…
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Politics

Belgian fans fuming over Balogun’s inclusion

Published

8 minutes ago

July 7, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The news that Folarin Balogun would be eligible to suit up against Belgium Monday night was met with near-universal celebration across the country.

Just don’t ask the Belgian fans living here.

Blue Light News caught up with several of them at the Belgian embassy’s watch party at Wunder Garten, a trendy bar in Washington’s NoMa neighbourhood.,

“I had to keep up my vomiting,” said Johan Hamels, an Ottawa resident from Leuven in Washington on a business trip. “Rules are rules. Every team is briefed by FIFA. And for every game, it’s in one of their slides. That you get a red card, you’re off next time.”

Balogun was given a red card in the Americans’ Round of 32 matchup last week against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which typically carries a suspension for the following game. But FIFA suspended his ban on Sunday.

Critics have charged that the White House pressured FIFA into making the switch. European politicians have slammed Balogun’s inclusion, and the Royal Belgian Football Association formally challenged FIFA’s reversal on Monday morning.

And while FIFA insists the ruling had nothing to do with politics, President Donald Trump is taking credit for getting Balogun back on the field.

“I’m Belgian,” said Win Van Dijck, a native of Brussels who has lived in the U.S. for the last five years. “So I appreciate surrealism. But it’s just too much.”

It’s another example of Trump pulling the strings in a tournament that has increasingly strayed into the political arena, they say.

“Having it reversed based on a call from the American God is a little bit lack of workmanship. And it’s sad for the kids here because that’s what they see as an example,” said Brigitte, a retiree who came to the U.S. in 1984.

Politics

Democratic leaders have abandoned Graham Platner

Published

38 minutes ago

July 6, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The dam has broken on Graham Platner’s candidacy.

A wave of prominent Democrats, from Platner’s most progressive allies to top Democratic leadership, are bailing on his Senate campaign after POLITICO reported that a woman who dated him said he forced her to have sex with him. Platner called the allegation false.

On Monday night — just hours after the story published — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Platner to “immediately withdraw” as the Democratic nominee in the Maine Senate race. The battleground contest iscrucial for Democrats’ chances of winning the Senate in November.

Schumer was joined in that statement by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which said last week it was in the process of opening a joint fundraising committee with Platner. On Monday the committee said it would no longer invest in the race if he stays on the ballot.

A flood of Democratic senators joined Schumer and Gillibrand in condemning Platner, including several potential 2028 presidential hopefuls. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) all called on Platner to exit the race. Even former staunch supporters — like progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego withdrew their endorsements. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who had expressed support for Platner last month, said Monday he “cannot support his candidacy.”

Meanwhile, two of Platner’s most prominent Senate backers, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have yet to comment on the news.

The money that would be crucial to Democrats’ hopes of flipping the seat also immediately dried up. Key outside groups organizing on his behalf, including VoteVets, which elevates former veterans as Democratic candidates, and the progressive good-governance group End Citizens United, rescinded their endorsements Monday. Senate Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting Senate Democrats, said it is “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race in light of the latest allegations.”

The exodus of Democratic support marks a significant break from how the party has responded to the previous scandals and controversies that have dogged his campaign. Many Democrats defended Platner — or otherwise begrudgingly accepted the success of his campaign — even after his history of offensive online comments, his tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol, and accusations of past mistreatment of women came to light.

Democrats who had hoped to nominate Maine Gov. Janet Mills coalesced behind Platner after she dropped out of the race, leaving Platner effectively uncontested in the primary, which he handily won last month.

But some Maine Democrats have begun to scramble in the wake of the tidal wave of calls for Platner to leave the race: If he withdraws before next Monday, Maine law allows the state party to select his replacement.

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidates Troy Jackson, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former public health official Nirav Shah are taking calls about replacing Platner, according to three people familiar with those conversations, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions.

Maine Democratic nominee for governor Hannah Pingree also called for Platner to exit the race.

“Graham Platner tapped into something real — voters hungry for change showed up with real passion and energy,” Pingree said in a statement. That energy doesn’t have to go away. It needs a new candidate to carry it forward.