The media’s attempts to suck the fun out of the World Cup are not confined to television. They extend to the local papers of the host cities as well. On Thursday, the day before the U.S. defeated Australia in Seattle, Seattle Times reporter Daniel Beekman took it upon himself to highlight certain locals who either refuse to root for Team USA or feel conflicted about the matter because of their dislike of President Trump or, in one case, the country more broadly. In a widely mocked X post, The Times wrote, “Some Seattle soccer fans have mixed feelings about patriotically backing the U.S. team during the FIFA Men's World Cup, given the actions of President Donald Trump.” As for the actual article, Beekman began by highlighting a conversation with Carey Lefkowitz, who “thinks Trump is tarnishing what it means to be American on the global stage.”   Meanwhile, Seattle…. Our media sucks. https://t.co/IeLYGGCs1i pic.twitter.com/MyEnLjpSxP — Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 19, 2026   Beekman then quotes Lefkowitz, “I still want the U.S. team to win, but everything that goes with that? I’m conflicted.” He then opined, “These are questions that many people are pondering in Seattle, an internationally oriented, soccer-impassioned city dominated by Democrats who vehemently disagree with how the Trump administration is running the U.S. and hosting the World Cup.” As it turned out, “many” was a vast overstatement. The crowds both inside and outside the stadium showed up in what colleague Mike Vorel was later forced to concede was a display of “pure, uncomplicated patriotism.” He even recalled how one fan gave him a yellow card for not wearing Team USA apparel. As for Beekman, he was also forced to concede that his efforts to make the World Cup about Trump were not so easy, “Some local soccer fans say current affairs actually won’t affect their approach to this summer’s tournament at all.”   Counterpoint: pic.twitter.com/PpOaWeQoOF https://t.co/dua6ELOD0n — Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) June 19, 2026   However, that did not stop him from continuing to try, “But it’s not surprising that many other fans are dealing with complex emotions around the World Cup, said Sebastian Mayer, a University of Washington politics lecturer who teaches a class on sports and politics.” Beekman continued to cite Mayer, who compared Trump’s America to previous World Cup hosts, “Since the World Cup began almost 100 years ago, many host-country leaders have used it to promote their political agendas and ‘sportswash’ their reputations, said Mayer, 33, mentioning tournaments hosted by Argentina’s brutal military junta in 1978 and Qatar’s repressive regime in 2022.”   THE GOAL IS GIVEN AND THE BUILDING SHAKES IN SEATTLE