President Donald Trump has weighed in on the soaring ticket prices for this summer's FIFA World Cup, and his reaction might surprise you. In a phone interview with The New York Post, Trump admitted he wouldn't pay the steep costs himself—even as a billionaire. "I did not know that number," he said, after learning that American soccer fans are facing four-figure prices for the cheapest seats. "I would certainly like to be there, but I wouldn't pay it either, to be honest with you."

The sticker shock is real. On StubHub, the most affordable tickets for the U.S.-Paraguay match on June 12 at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles start at $1,056. Compare that to the England vs. Panama game on June 27 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the low end is $876, or the France vs. Senegal match there on June 16, which goes for $750. For many fans, these prices are a tough pill to swallow.

Trump, who has a strong base among working-class voters, expressed concern that his own supporters might be priced out of the tournament. Running from June 11 to July 19 across over a dozen cities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the World Cup is a massive event—but not everyone can afford to be part of the action. "If people from Queens and Brooklyn and all of the people that love Donald Trump can't go, I would be disappointed," he said. "But, you know, at the same time, it's an amazing success. I would like to be able to have the people that voted for me to be able to go."

Despite the backlash, the president voiced satisfaction with the five million tickets already sold, declaring, "They've never had anything like it." Still, the frustration is mounting globally. Fans across the world have struggled to secure seats due to record-high costs, sparking comparisons to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the most expensive final ticket was roughly $1,600 at face value. This year, prices have surged even higher, leading soccer author Andrés Martinez to call it "the corporatization of World Cups on steroids." He added, "Global football still tries to adhere to this idea of a more populist aspiration about the accessibility of the game. That's basically become a fiction."

As the tournament approaches, the debate over ticket affordability continues—and even the President of the United States has something to say about it. Whether you're a die-hard fan or a casual observer, one thing is clear: this World Cup is shaping up to be a game of high stakes, both on and off the pitch.