He wanted to stay – Chelsea captain Reece James confused by Donald Trump

Reece James admitted he was baffled by Donald Trump’s presence on the stage as Chelsea lifted the Club World Cup.

The Blues were surprisingly dominant winners against Paris Saint-Germain in New Jersey, winning 3-0 with Cole Palmer netting twice and providing the assist for Joao Pedro to get on the scoresheet.

James was handed the trophy by Trump but, rather than make the customary swift exit, the American president loitered as the trophy was raised before being smuggled aside by FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.

THEY DID IT! 💙@ChelseaFC lift the FIFA Club World Cup!

CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD 🏆

GLOBAL HOME OF FOOTBALL | Live All Summer Long | https://t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld #CHEPSG pic.twitter.com/44SgOhV7n7

— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 13, 2025

Trump didn’t get the memo!

England international James said: “They told me that he was going to present the trophy and then exit the stage, and I thought that he was going to exit the stage, but he wanted to stay.”

Palmer, who claimed the man of the match award from Trump, added: “I knew he was going to be here but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy.  I was a bit confused, yeah.”

It was a bizarre end to what was a fantastic night for Chelsea, as they sent out a warning to the rest of the Premier League that their expensively assembled squad is continuing to develop at a rapid rate.

James said: “We’re moving in the right direction, winning this trophy against such good opposition sends a big statement.

“I’m happy with how the club has progressed. Next season I hope the club is competing in the Premier League and to win the title, and competing to go far in the Champions League as well.”

Maresca gets better of Luis Enrique

The triumph capped an impressive first season at Chelsea for boss Enzo Maresca with the Conference League trophy also tucked away in the cabinet.

And his tactical nous in enabling Palmer to play with more freedom proved a masterstroke.

Ctrl+C ➡️ Ctrl+V on the two first @chelseaFC goals…

Catch the @FIFACWC Final | July 13 | Free | https://t.co/i0K4eUu4lJ | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld #CHEPSG pic.twitter.com/IOKO64MEUW

— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 13, 2025

The Italian said: “Today we found a position for him where there was more space to attack.

“Obviously Cole played really well but the effort from all the players was fantastic.

“The idea was go man-to-man because if you leave spaces to PSG they will kill you, so we tried to be very aggressive and suffocate them early on and that intensity was crucial in the first 10 minutes due to the scorching heat, that was really difficult conditions to play as the game progresses.”

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