Trump administration plans $500 million anti-drone program to protect 2026 World Cup

The Trump administration is planning a $500 million initiative to develop anti-drone security strategies ahead of the World Cup, which is to be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico in 2026. 

The initiative was described by director of the White House’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force, Andrew Giuliani, in an interview with Politico. 

“Everybody from the governors to different commissioners of the police in these different cities to the stadium chief security officer say that this is something that they need in order to protect the [World Cup] sites,” Giuliani said in the interview.

The White House says the funding will be available to all 50 states, but it will be especially focused on securing the 104 soccer matches being held in U.S. stadiums. Officials expect city police departments to use handheld devices that can detect drones or other aircraft, then either disable them using signal jammers or command them to fly back to where they came from, the outlet reported. 

The program will be funded by resources allocated to the Department of Homeland Security as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill,” the tax-and-spending measure signed into law by President Donald Trump in July. 

“Drones are a disruptive technology. They have an amazing potential for both good and ill,” Seb Gorka, the Trump administration’s senior terrorism official, previously said. “We will increase the enforcement of current laws to deter two types of individuals: evildoers and idiots — the clueless and the careless.”