Even as President Donald Trump stood tall, Spain’s World Cup star Rodri stood taller.
While Trump, 80, congratulated the Golden Ball recipient after Spain’s FIFA World Cup win against Argentina, the president received a reality check when it came to his supposed height.
A video shared by the White House’s own Rapid Response account on X captured the height differential between Spain’s top midfielder and Trump, showing Rodri standing a few inches taller than the president while the two shook hands on stage.
Rodri stands at 6 feet, 3 inches, according to ESPN—the same height recorded for Trump last year by the White House physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella.
The White House did not immediately comment on the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the height contradiction.
Trump’s surprisingly tall height has long been a subject of skepticism. The president’s 6-foot-3 height ranks second among all American presidents, only one inch shorter than Abraham Lincoln’s 6-foot-4 stature.
However, multiple instances where Trump has stood beside other tall men have called his reported height into question.
Last month, the president stood side-by-side with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune as Trump made a trip to Capitol Hill for a closed-door meeting with other GOP senators.
Thune, who is reportedly 6-foot-4, towered over Trump despite their purported one-inch difference.
The president also sized up against Prince William during the Prince of Wales’ state visit to the U.S. in September.
Despite the two figures sharing the same height of 6-foot-3, William also appeared noticeably taller than the octogenarian president.
Even Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, appeared to accidentally expose the president’s official height as a fraud.
In an Instagram video shared in May, Lara, 43, stood next to her father-in-law in front of his UFC Octagon being constructed for his birthday bash at the White House. The self-proclaimed high heels lover, who is 5-foot-11, appeared to be eye-to-eye with Trump.
Trump’s presence at the World Cup final on Sunday was welcomed with waves of boos—both before and after the match itself. According to HuffPost White House reporter S.V. Dáte, “Ambient crowd noise was about 78 decibels” before the latter incident. “Booing brought it to 84,” or about the same as a passing diesel truck.
The president even tried to steal the spotlight from the World Cup champions, Spain. In an especially embarrassing moment, Trump refused to get off stage during the trophy ceremony despite attempts by his friend and league president, Gianni Infantino, to remove him.
The same situation occurred last year during the Club World Cup final, with Trump staying on stage while club champions Chelsea hoisted the trophy. However, Trump did not take the World Cup trophy away from Spain for himself, as he did with Chelsea.
