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Paolo Zampolli, the Italian-American businessman and diplomat serving as Trump’s special envoy for global partnerships, told The Post that “only President Trump could have such a genius idea.”
Zampolli said Infantino “would do a great job” and is “liked by everybody” — describing him as potentially bringing fresh energy to the massive bureaucracy and using sports to build new bridges and inspire the world’s young and poor populations.
“There is some similarity” between the roles of FIFA president and UN secretary-general, said Zampolli, a personal friend of Infantino’s and a former ambassador to the UN for the small island nation of Dominica.
“At the United Nations, you have to deal with 193 member states. In FIFA, there are over 200 members [and] Gianni’s great record shows he knows how to manage.”
Zampolli spent time with Infantino at last weekend’s World Cup final in New Jersey but said they did not discuss the concept and was surprised to learn of it from The Post.
Trump has fumed about what he views as the UN’s inactivity in mediating major world conflicts and last year created a new US-led Board of Peace that drew speculation he was setting up a rival organization — as he brokered peace deals, including between Israel and Hamas — though Trump denied it and said he hopes the UN will take a more active role.
Since reentering the White House last year, Trump has slashed US contributions to the UN and withdrawn from many of its sub-organizations, including the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council.
Installing Infantino could improve Trump’s relationship with the UN.
However, if the president is successful, it would come with a steep pay cut for Infantino, who earns about $6 million a year at FIFA.
The secretary-general’s recently reported compensation amounted to about $418,000.
Infantino has declared his candidacy for re-election as FIFA president. That selection process occurs next March.
He did not immediately respond to The Post’s emailed request for comment about the UN opening.
Although he’s lined up endorsements for reelection from nearly all of FIFA’s 211 member associations, he faces blowback over Trump’s intervention on behalf of the US team in the World Cup to overturn a one-game suspension of Folarin Balogun ahead of the match with Belgium.
Balogun’s reinstatement outraged European nations, but the American loss to Belgium blunted the fallout. Still, disgraced ex-FIFA President Sepp Blatter, whose tenure was marred by a bribery scandal in awarding the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, is among those clamoring for Infantino’s ouster.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/us-news/trump-wants-to-nominate-fifa-boss-gianni-infantino-for-un-secretary-general-following-world-cup/