I did [appeal the red card].

I spoke to Gianni, who's highly respected, who's produced the most successful World Cup in history, they say, four times.

I think Kane is a great player. I played golf with him and I like him a lot.

He's a good golfer. He's really great.

I saw the play, and I understand sports really well, really well. That wasn't a foul; that wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other.

You can't take your foot and properly place it on somebody else's foot when you're going to know.

This referee, who is a little bit suspect. If you check his past, I don't want to say that because I don't like to create controversy, but very suspect. If you'd like, I'll provide you with the past. He made a call that nobody could believe, you know, even people on the other side.

They say they're not allowed to review in slow motion because it's so different, because you'll take one little quarter of a second and you'll see that a hand is touching a neck or you'll see something.

Whereas when you see it in fast motion, it will look like two guys collided, which is really what happened. They got sort of entangled. He didn't do anything wrong.

He's (Balogun) our best player or one of our best players, a very vital player. And he gave him a red card. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't think it meant much.

Then I started hearing that that means he can't play in the next game, at least in the next game. When they take your best player and they say you can't play. That's very unfair.

It's one thing to penalize somebody for the game, but how do you penalize them for a game that hasn't been played yet? It's very unfair.

So, yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who's highly respected (Gianni Infantino), and by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold.

In fact, I said to Gianni, let's do it again next time. You do it again, but at the same time, you give it to somebody else for the next one. I don't know. It's a little crazy idea.

All I did was ask for a review because I didn't think it was a foul. I'm good at this stuff. I didn't think it was a foul. I thought it was two great athletes that crashed into each other and got entangled.

That was not a guy punching somebody in the face or anything that, you know, would be different.

I think it's terrible if they wouldn't allow, you know, a top player, maybe the best, maybe among the best players on the team to play; I think it would have had a big stain. I didn't tell Gianni what to do.

I think it was a committee that made the decision. And they made the right decision because, number one, it wasn't a foul. And you want to see a game with your best players.

How would you feel if I took Messi out? Look, you know, he ran into somebody. Or we took Ronaldo; you bunked into somebody; we're going to take you out of a game. Or Harry Kane.

If you had taken him out, I think it would have really stained this incredible champion.

We got to have our best players, and they have to have their best. And if we win or we lose, it's fair. Otherwise, let's say we lost him and we lose the game. It would be a terrible thing.

I think the referee's call was horrible. And nobody talks about that. They talk about the red card like it's fine.

I didn't know what the hell a red card was. When I found out, I said, "You got to be kidding."

This guy just hands up. Okay, your best player is not going to play next week or in the next game. I said, "Wow, that's a lot of power. That's terrible."

But then I looked at the referee's past, and it wasn't so great.

I've become a big crypto guy only for one reason: if we don't have it, China is going to have it, and they would like to have it.

But now they're not even trying that hard because we've taken over crypto.

I'm a fan. I wasn't initially. I wasn't much involved, but I'd watch. I'd see a lot of money starting to come in with Bitcoin and, you know, the different forms. And I said, "This thing's got a lot of life."

We're leading China substantially in AI.

So, yeah, I’m very much for crypto because it’s not a question of a personal thing. I let my kids do whatever the hell they do. They can do it. I don’t talk to them—ever talk to them—about it.

I’m allowed to. I think I’m allowed, but I don't bother.

I waived my salary. George Washington had two desks. One was for business and one was for the presidency.

There's a thing called TikTok. Have you heard of it?

It was announced about two days ago. Do you know who the number one person on TikTok is by far? Trump.

Taylor Swift was number 11. I'm number one on TikTok by far.

They're talking about the tremendous danger because of the influence of TikTok.

Maybe they're bad. Maybe they're not. I know one thing. Great American people and tremendous business people and companies bought it.

I can only say this: I had nothing to do with the decision. What I did do is say, “I think that should be reviewed,” because I watched the play, and he didn’t do anything wrong.

You’ve got to look at it. By the way, if he did, I’d probably feel differently. If he punched him in the face or did something wrong.

I thought your young, wonderful basketball player, Caitlin [Clark]—I thought she was treated rather rough, if you want to know the truth. That was a much different kind of an event. That was a pretty bad event.

But in this case, he didn’t do anything wrong. Two people ran into each other. And by the way, if you look at that game, there were 10 instances that were much rougher than that.

So I think it starts with the fact that it shouldn’t have been a foul. Then you have to look at the person who raised the card, and that’s up to you people. You look at it. But I didn’t think it was very good because it was not good.

You have to let them use their best players, and the game tonight is going to be amazing.

We're going to have a full team, and Belgium is going to have a full team, and you know what? If they beat us, then they can be really proud.

The other way if they beat us (if the red card wasn't suspended) I would've said it was rigged Just like the election was rigged in 2020, but I won't get into that.

All legal and administrative arrangements for the handover have been finalized, with current government institutions serving only as a temporary body until the committee assumes control.

Committee head Ali Shaath said it is ready to take over once the necessary political, administrative, and security conditions are in place, emphasizing the need for "one authority, one law, and one weapon."

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the move was coordinated with mediators and urged them to pressure Israel to allow the committee into Gaza to oversee relief, recovery, and reconstruction.

Separately, a Hamas delegation traveled to Istanbul after talks in Cairo, with Israel expected to respond to the group's latest ceasefire proposal later this week.

Hamas said it is prepared to reach an immediate agreement if it includes a full ceasefire, 600 aid trucks entering Gaza daily, the immediate deployment of the Gaza administration committee, a gradual transfer of heavy weapons to the committee alongside Israeli withdrawals, and a commitment that disarmament will not be linked to reconstruction or other issues.

Hamas's maneuver is simple:

The willingness to "make room" for a technocratic government is designed to prevent the disarmament of Hamas.

Hamas is interested in a "Hezbollah model" in Gaza: The technocratic committee will be responsible for garbage removal and municipal services, while Hamas will remain the dominant military force.

When the weapons are in Hamas's hands—the civilian government will, of course, operate according to its dictates. This way, Hamas will be able to continue suppressing Palestinians in Gaza and waging its jihad war against Israel.

Israel insists on implementing the Trump plan in full, with its core being the disarmament of Hamas and the other terror organizations and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday (July 1), a nuclear convoy (carrying classified information and not necessarily nuclear-related) of the French Armed Forces was scheduled to pass at night near the 12th Armored Regiment garrison in Olivet, near Orléans, but had to change route at the last minute following the appearance of an unidentified drone above the convoy, reportedly jamming the phones and security systems of the convoy and the nearby garrisons.

An eyewitness to the event reported that the drone had a Shahed/Geran-like shape and that an unknown vehicle was spotted inside the security perimeter of the convoy before quickly escaping.

Following the incident, the army reportedly instructed the witness not to disclose anything and bury the event.