Panicked U.S. hotels are slashing room rates for the World Cup amid a demand shortfall, exacerbated by what executives believe is being driven by a surge in anti-American sentiment.
Industry executives had hopes that FIFA’s World Cup would revive last year’s slump in travel to the country. Last year, FIFA projected that millions of international visitors would give the U.S. a $30.5 billion economic boost.
But that demand hasn’t materialized, forcing FIFA to begin cancelling tens of thousands of reserved rooms in host cities across the country. Eleven U.S. cities will be hosting matches during the World Cup, scheduled from June 11 through July 19.
Lior Sekler, chief commercial officer at hotel operator HRI Hospitality, told The Financial Times the Trump administration is partially to blame for the slump.
“Obviously, people’s desire to come to the United States right now is down,” said Sekler, pointing to the unrest caused by Trump’s war on Iran and his hardline immigration crackdown.
FIFA may ask Trump to pause Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids during the tournament this summer, The Athletic reported this week.
Aran Ryan, director of industry studies at research group Tourism Economics, agreed, saying that pre-existing anti-U.S. sentiment amid the second Trump administration has been “made worse by the Iran war.”
“I’m seeing a lot of people start to panic and lower their rates,” Scott Yesner, founder of Philadelphia-based short-term rental and boutique hotel management company Bespoke Stay, told the publication.
The Daily Beast has contacted FIFA for comment.
Trump launched coordinated strikes with Israel on Iran on Feb. 28, offering a flurry of different timelines for when the war would end and why it was necessary to start in the first place. Thousands of people have so far been killed across the Middle East in the conflict.
Ironically, weeks before the military operation began, Trump was announced as the winner of an entirely made-up peace prize created by FIFA.
A video announcing Trump as the winner said the prize “recognizes an individual who has taken extraordinary action for peace, and in doing so, helped unite people across the globe.”
In an acceptance speech, Trump said the award was “truly one of the great honors of my life.”
He has long tried and failed to get the Nobel Peace Prize. The 2025 prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, despite the president’s efforts to get the award for himself.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Daily Beast that the FIFA World Cup 2026 will “generate billions of dollars of economic impact and bring hundreds of thousands of jobs to our country.”
“The President is focused on making this the greatest World Cup ever while ensuring it is the safest and most secure in history,” Ingle added.
