Trump teases Oval Office mystery announcement as FBI raids John Bolton’s home: Live updates

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US NEWS REPORTER and KATELYN CARALLE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER and PHILLIP NIETO, US POLITICAL REPORTER

Updated: 19:21, 22 August 2025

Donald Trump revealed that the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place in Washington, DC during his surprise announcement on Friday.

Flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance and FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Trump said the draw will take place on December 5 of this year at the Kennedy Center.

He boasted that hosting the World Cup is ‘like having many Super Bowls in a short period of time,’ adding that it will bring a whopping $30 billion economic boom to the US.

The announcement comes as the FBI raid of former national security advisor John Bolton’s home enters its sixth hour.

Trump denied knowing about the FBI’s raid earlier in the day at a surprise visit to the White House Historical Association Museum.

Slamming his former aide as a ‘lowlife’ and ‘not a smart guy,’ Trump said: ‘He’s very bad at what he does.’

‘He doesn’t talk, he’s like a very quiet person except on television and then he can say something bad about Trump. He’ll always do that. But he doesn’t talk, he’s very quiet,’ Trump told reporters.

The raid at Bolton’s DC-area home is said to be tied to an investigation into his alleged use of classified documents in his 2020 memoir.

Bolton, who served as President Donald Trump’s NSA from April 2018 until September 2019, has been at odds with Trump ever since parting with the first administration.

Trump announces FIFA World Cup draw is moving from Las Vegas to D.C. Donald Trump announced on Friday afternoon that the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will take place in the nation’s capital.

It was previously set to happen in Las Vegas, Nevada.

‘On December 5 of this year the 2025 FIFA World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center… right here in Wahsington, D.C.,’ Trump said in a surprise announcement from the Oval Office.

He said hosting the World Cup is ‘like having many Super Bowls in a short period of time.’

‘Each one of these games essentially is a Super Bowl. Some of them are bigger than Super Bowls, actually,’ Trump said, adding that it will bring a whopping $30 billion economic boom to the U.S.

The president joked that he would soon be renaming the performing arts venue to the ‘Trump-Kennedy Center.’

He also said that his closed meetings at the Kennedy Center on Friday morning were to meet with contractors about ‘fixing’ up the building ahead of the draw.

‘It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s got great bones but it needs a lot of work,’ Trump claimed.

He was flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance and FIFA President Gianni Infantino for the announcement.

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton waves from a vehicle leaving office building following FBI raid By katrina schollenberger

Trump compares Bolton raid to Mar-a-Lago Donald Trump said he does not know anything about the John Bolton FBI raid, but compared it to the one at his own Mar-a-Lago.

‘I purposely don’t want to really get involved in it. I’m not a fan of John Bolton,’ he said.

‘My house was raided also… So I know the feeling. It’s not a good feeling.’

Trump wants Epstein probe ‘totally open’ but warns there are ‘innocent’ people in the files President Donald Trump says he instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to do what she can to keep the Jeffrey Epstein case ‘totally open.’

But he cautioned that there are people in the documents who are ‘innocent’ and ‘don’t deserve to be’ in the files.

‘Innocent people shouldn’t be hurt – but I’m in support of keeping it totally open. I couldn’t care less,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.

‘You’ve got a lot of people who could be mentioned in those files that don’t deserve to be, because he [Epstein] knew everybody in Palm Beach,’ Trump said in reference to his home city. ‘I don’t know anything about that.’

‘But I have said to Pam and everybody else, give them everything you can give them because it’s a Democrat hoax. It’s just a hoax.’

The Justice Department is preparing to send its first trove of Epstein files to the House Oversight Committee by the end of the day.

Trump holds up Putin photo Trump held up a photo of himself standing next to Putin during their meeting in Alaska at his World Cup announcement.

‘He may be coming and he may not, depending on what happens,’ Trump said of the Russian president.

Referring to the photo, Trump said, ‘I thought it was a nice picture of him. OK, of me, but nice of him.’

Trump warns he will bring federal law enforcement to Chicago and New York Donald Trump suggested that he will use federal law enforcement to crack down on crime in other major cities.

‘I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York,’ he said.

Trump touches World Cup trophy Donald Trump held the World Cup trophy during his Oval Office announcement on Friday, an honor usually reserved for countries that win it.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, ‘Only the FIFA presidents, presidents of countries, and then those who win can touch it because it’s for winners only. And, since you are a winner, of course you can as well.’

Trump picked up the trophy and said,
Source: Dailymail.co.uk | Read Full Story…