Alexi Lalas keeps bringing Trump into soccer talk

Alexi Lalas knows plenty of fans hate him, but he leans into provocation—especially when it comes to linking soccer’s “soft power” to politics. In a Fox World Cup media promo last month, he said a president engaged with the sport is “a good thing,” and he’s do

Alexi Lalas doesn’t dodge the question everyone expects him to dodge.

The “first commandment” of sports talk—media-trained. sports-adjacent. and keenly aware of how quickly people get upset—is simple: don’t bring up Donald Trump in public unless you’re forced to. Lalas breaks that rule “unasked. ” and he does it often. including during a promotional junket for Fox’s World Cup coverage last month.

“Regardless of your political affiliation. having the soccer that emanates out of the White House. out of the Oval Office. having a president that is engaged and recognizes the opportunity and the soft power of a World Cup. that’s a good thing. ” Lalas told The Post during that stop. “Anybody would want that.”.

That line landed without needing a political prompt. Lalas may not be making news about his politics—those have been a matter of public record—but what he understands is painfully practical: if Trump’s name is in the headline. more people read. Whether they like what they read is, by his own framing, not the point.

It’s an approach that has long shaped how many fans feel about him, particularly in a sport community that tends to lean left. Lalas has been a ubiquitous face of American soccer punditry on Fox for more than a decade, after leaving ESPN to join the network ahead of the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

Among fans, there’s been a running frustration with how he can be openly critical of U.S. national teams. Christian Pulisic was among those who appeared to target Lalas—along with Landon Donovan and other former national team players—when Pulisic called it “the biggest cop-out of all time” to be criticized for his commitment to the national team.

Four years ago, during the World Cup in Qatar, Lalas faced backlash for donning a thobe—a traditional loose-fitting robe worn primarily by men in the Arab world—during a segment. And more controversy has followed since.

That history feeds the heat around him. Former USWNT star and current Fox analyst Carli Lloyd, asked about the chatter, didn’t treat it like a mystery.

“I’ve been a player. and I’ve heard him yap and tweet and say I’m not good enough and maybe I don’t deserve to be on the roster and our team’s not good enough — I’ve heard all those things. ” Lloyd told The Post. “And you hear the noise. Our team [the USWNT] has proven him wrong. I’ve proven him wrong.

“And then you see him and he’s like, ‘You proved me wrong.’ It’s no big deal. Now working with him. getting to know him as a person. I’ve spent a lot of time with him. his family. just a really. really good human being. I know that he voices his opinion a lot soccer-wise, politically wise. But at the end of the day, he always is wanting to listen to anybody and everybody.”.

Lalas, for his part, doesn’t sound surprised by the dislike. He’s described it as part of the deal—and even part of the job.

“I enjoy poking. I enjoy being provocative,” Lalas said. “But the question I get most is: Do you believe everything you say?. And my answer immediately, my unequivocal take, is yes. It doesn’t mean I can’t put myself in other people’s shoes and I can’t argue other sides in the grand tradition of debate.”.

He continued: “… I understand that there are plenty of people out there that disagree. some vehemently. and some take that disagreement and paint everything with it. Nothing I can do about that. Most importantly. I think there are people that enjoy and respect that I will offer an opinion that they don’t agree with. but they still find interesting and entertaining.

“My job isn’t to have people agree with me or even like me for that matter. My job is to say what I feel, to be honest about it, hopefully do it in an entertaining and informative way and let the chips fall where they may.”

That’s the through-line: he isn’t just trying to speak about soccer. He’s trying to hold attention.

Part of that comes from where his instincts came from before television. Music has been one of Lalas’s passion projects. He’s released eight solo albums and played in a band called The Gypsies. The band once opened for Hootie & The Blowfish during a European tour.

So when he describes himself as a performer, it doesn’t sound like marketing. In his playing days, he was already one of the most recognizable faces of the 1994 USMNT, with long hair and a goatee, and his television persona reads—at least to him—like a continuation rather than a reinvention.

“I never looked at it any different in that you go on a stage. which is the same thing as a field. ” Lalas said. “You go in front of an audience, which is the same thing as a crowd, if you will. You put on a costume, which is the same as a uniform. You rehearse, which is the same thing as training. And so I just looked at it as a continuation of being an entertainer and a performer.”.

He added: “Doesn’t mean you aren’t authentic and you’re not truthful or you aren’t comfortable. There’s still a persona and a character, if you will, that you play. And at times exaggerate for effect. I don’t think that’s a problem. I think it’s probably a tradition as old as time when it comes to performance. But I think you have to. I think television in particular lends itself to that.”.

In that framing, the version of Lalas viewers love to hate is part of the show. He even reaches for a wrestling term.

“The people that don’t like me, whatever, I can’t control,” he said. “I don’t want them changing the channel. Plenty of them hate-watch, which is fine. We still get the rating.”

Alexi Lalas Donald Trump Fox World Cup World Cup coverage soccer punditry Carli Lloyd Christian Pulisic Landon Donovan USMNT USWNT Qatar thobe controversy The Gypsies Hootie & The Blowfish