Trump praises tenor Christopher Macchio for “amazing” World Cup performance

Trump the president said the classical-crossover vocalist “took the house down” at the World Cup, extending a run of high-profile appearances that includes his inauguration anthem.

First Published: July 19, 2026, 4:45 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump hailed opera tenor Christopher Macchio for stealing the show at the World Cup on July 19, 2026.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Christopher Maccio, the Great Opera Singer, was AMAZING at the World Cup today — He ”took the house down!“ Trump”

Macchio, an international classical-crossover vocalist, has built his profile through command performances tied to Trump events. He sang the U.S. National Anthem at the 47th Presidential Inauguration and performed a memorial tribute at the return rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to christophermacchio.com. He has appeared on live international television from the White House and Madison Square Garden according to christophermacchio.com.

The singer trained at the Manhattan School of Music Conservatory, where he starred in Vincenzo Bellini’s I Puritani, and made his professional debut in a PBS-TV concert special titled “Bell’Aria: Live from Las Vegas” according to tseentertainment.com. He can sing in more than 12 languages, including Hebrew, Turkish and Arabic. He became the youngest member of the New York Tenors in 2014 alongside Andy Cooney and Daniel Rodriguez according to tseentertainment.com.

The praise carries weight beyond a single review. A presidential endorsement from Trump amplifies Macchio’s reach to millions of Truth Social followers, benefiting the performer and the events that book him. It also reinforces a pattern in which the tenor performs at ceremonies with political resonance.

Has this happened before? It has. Trump routinely singles out performers, athletes and allies for public praise. In the last 30 days, 25 of 495 Trump posts fell under the topic “Personal Praise, Greetings & Tributes,” according to a Zenger analysis of his Truth Social posts.

The next move rests with Macchio and the organizers who schedule his appearances. No date for a further performance has been announced.

Opera singers have long lent their voices to moments of national spectacle, as happened before. Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian tenor, joined Plácido Domingo and José Carreras as the Three Tenors for a concert on the eve of the 1990 World Cup final in Rome. That performance drew a global television audience estimated in the hundreds of millions. It turned classical arias into stadium entertainment and revived Pavarotti’s mass-market fame, selling millions of albums and cementing a link between opera and the World Cup that endures today.