HBO’s John Oliver declared on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight that he has little faith in the Trump administration’s World Cup visa vetting as he does in Trump’s ability to point out which side were the good guys in the Civil War. Oliver read from a BBC article while introducing a clip of Trump in the Oval Office, “But unfortunately, not everyone's been able to enjoy the wonders of America. ‘Fans from more than a quarter of the countries taking part in the World Cup are facing travel bans, tighter restrictions, or high visa rejection rates.’ When Trump was asked about that, his answer was pretty telling.” There were multiple bits of information in the BBC article that Oliver didn’t read that paint a more complicated picture. For one, the BBC highlighted Iraqi fan Abdulla Adnan’s quest to purchase tickets but conceded, “After the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, the US suspended routine consular services in Iraq due to concerns about security in the region. This means there is nowhere in the country where Adnan and other Iraqi fans can get visas, as they have to attend an in-person interview.”   John Oliver claims he doesn't trust the Trump administration to do World Cup visa vetting, "I'm not sure I trust Trump's judgment on who the right people are, any more than I trust his ability to look a Civil War reenactment and point at the good guys." He then promotes British… pic.twitter.com/2DpmYTRskN — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) June 16, 2026   It also noted how for fiscal year 2025, 11 of 48 countries had a business and tourist visa rejection rate of over 40 percent when the average rejection rate is 34 percent. However, buried deep in the article, in the second-to-last paragraph, it notes fellow host Canada does not publish data by country or visa type, but its overall rejection rate is 54 percent and fans from Iran and Cabo Verde have no place to go to submit their biometric data to Canadian authorities. The BBC finally noted in the final paragraph that fellow host Mexico does not publish any data but requires in-person applications despite not having diplomatic a presence in eight World Cup countries, including Iraq. Nevertheless, in the clip, Trump was shown declaring, “We're working on it very closely to make sure that the right people come into our country.” Oliver retorted, “Oh, 'the right people.’ I'll be honest, I'm not sure I trust Trump's judgment on who the "right people" are, any more than I trust his ability to look at a Civil War reenactment and point at the good guys. And it's not just fans. Iraq's star player was held for almost seven hours and had his phone inspected before being allowed entry. Iran's national team had to relocate their training camp from the U.S. to Mexico in order to resolve potential visa issues, and a referee from Somalia was actually denied entry at Miami airport and forced to fly back home.” He then introduced another clip, “One reporter actually caught up with the head of the White House task force on the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani—yes relation—and pointed out the obvious pattern here.” That reporter was Sky News U.S. correspondent James Matthews, and he began pestering Giuliani, “Given the people having trouble accessing this tournament and their skin color. Is this shaping up as a racist World Cup?” Giuliani rejected the premise and asked for evidence. In response, Matthews recited, “Swiss striker Breel Embolo, Cameroon born, he had trouble getting into the country. Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours—” Embolo ran into problems not because he was born in Cameroon, but because he has been convicted of making threats against others. Still, those Matthews mentioned were eventually let in as Giuliani forced him to concede: GIULIANI: Are in the country? MATTHEWS: They're in the country. GIULIANI: They’re in the country. Exactly MATTHEWS: They were detained. After Giuliani finally got fed up enough to start leaving, Matthews tried again, “Was a Somalian referee not allowed into the country because Donald Trump has a problem with Somalia?” That referee was turned back due to alleged terrorism connections, but back in studio, Oliver reacted, “That's pretty damning, although I do kind of love the immediate whiplash of ‘Explain your question, your premise is false’ to ‘Oh, I understand the question now, excuse me I have to leave.’" That’s wildly unfair. Giuliani answered Matthews’s questions. It was only when Matthews decided to keep going with his premise that everything is racist that Giuliani realized he was wasting his time and left because Matthews didn’t want actual answers.  Here is a transcript for the June 14 show: HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver 6/14/2026 11:06 PM ET JOHN OLIVER: But unfortunately, not everyone's been able to enjoy the wonders of America. “Fans from more than a quarter of the countries taking part in the World Cup are facing travel bans, tighter restrictions, or high visa rejection rates.” When Trump was asked about that, his answer was pretty telling. REPORTER: Some people are afraid that it's going to be harder and harder to get visas to come from outside. Can you reassure them – DONALD TRUMP: We're working on it very closely to make sure that the right people come into our country. OLIVER: Oh, "the right people." I'll be honest, I'm not sure I trust Trump's judgment on who the "right people" are, any more than I trust his ability to look at a Civil War reenactment and point at the good guys. And it's not just fans. Iraq's star player was held for almost seven hours and had his phone inspected before being allowed entry. Iran's national team had to relocate their training camp from the U.S. to Mexico in order to resolve potential visa issues, and a referee from Somalia was actually denied entry at Miami airport and forced to fly back home. One reporter actually caught up with the head of the White House task force on the World Cup, Andrew Giuliani—yes relation—and pointed out the obvious pattern here. JAMES MATTHEWS: Given the people having trouble accessing this tournament and their skin color— ANDREW GIULIANI: How so? MATTHEWS: Is this shaping up as a racist World Cup? GIULIANI: First off, first off, explain your question because I think the premise is false. MATTHEWS: Swiss striker Breel Embolo, Cameroon born, he had trouble getting into the country. Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein was detained for seven hours— GIULIANI: Are in the country? MATTHEWS: They're in the country. GIULIANI: They’re in the country. Exactly MATTHEWS: They were detained. [jump cut] GIULIANI: Don't you think the most important thing about a tournament is making sure that those fans that come to the United States, all those Americans that are gonna enjoy this tournament, that they're safe and secure. That's what I ultimately think is important. We're going to continue to focus on that– [crosstalk] MATTHEWS: Was a Somalian referee not allowed into the country because Donald Trump has a problem with Somalia? OLIVER: That's pretty damning, although I do kind of love the immediate whiplash of "Explain your question, your premise is false" to "Oh, I understand the question now, excuse me I have to leave."