Trump receives Juventus in the Oval Office: it sounds like a meme but it's not

At first it sounded like a meme. The kind that not even the most imaginative of artificial intelligences could conceive of. Here we are in the Oval Office, right there where Musk was fired, with a beady eye and the Doge's cap still on his head. A few metres from where Zelensky was mortified. There is of course Trump sitting at his desk who, given the complicated days the world is going through, does not rule out attacking Iran. Behind him, a 58-goal attack that earned just fourth place in the last Serie A: that of Juventus.

No, it wasn't a meme: a Juventus delegation, just a few hours after the World Club Championship match they won in Washington DC 5-0 against the Emiratins of Al-Ain, was actually received by 'The Donald' himself, in one of the most critical moments in contemporary history.

There were the players: McKennie and Weah (the only Americans, by the nose not exactly at ease in those circumstances), Locatelli, Gatti, Koopmeiners and Vlahovic accompanied by Mister Tudor, martial like a soldier in Tuđman's army. There was the management: the ceo Maurizio Scanavino, the general manager Damien Comolli, the newly appointed director of strategy and former national team flag Giorgio Chiellini. The ownership was there: none other than Stellantis chairman John Elkann, from what we learn, a supporter of the summit meeting. And there was Fifa president Gianni Infantino, Swiss by passport but reportedly an Interista by faith.

Elkann e Infantino regalano la maglio 47 a Donald Trump (Photo by Doug Mills / POOL / AFP)

Both the former and the latter presented Trump with a jersey bearing his name and the number 47, as the 47th president of the United States. And meanwhile 'The Donald' did his show, talking about Elkann ('You all know him, he's done an incredible job for the auto industry'), then questioning the executives on issues of sports and gender: 'Have you ever had women on your team?', Trump asked, reiterating, according to some videos posted online, his crusade against 'men participating in women's sports'.

Then again, pointing at the players behind him, of the most diverse nationalities, he added: 'People come, but they have to do it legally. Like these guys behind me. They have to come legally. If they come legally we want them. They have to say they love America, they love our country. And if they can't say that, we don't want them."