Former model agent Paolo Zampolli attends a United Nations Security Council hearing on Children, Technology and Eduction headed by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump at the UN Headquarters in New York City on March 2, 2026.Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/AP
Paolo Zampolli epitomizeswhy so many people hate the Trump administration.
Zampolli serves as Donald Trump’s US special envoy for “Global Partnership” and is mired in controversies over this year’s World Cup, Jeffrey Epstein, and, according tothe New York Times, ICE.
He’s a shining example of people alleged to be scammer and abusers have weaseled their way into using Trump’s global platform for their own nefarious purposes. Let’s take a look.
On Wednesday, Zampolli told theFinancial Timeshe made a suggestion to Trump andFIFA President Gianni Infantinothat Iran be replaced by Italy at this summer’s World Cup. The soccer tournament will be played in the US, Canada, and Mexico, and both the US and Iran haveexpressed concernsthat it would not be possible for Iran, which is currently at war with Israel and the United States.
“I’m an Italian native and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a US-hosted tournament. With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion,” Zampolli said to theFinancial Times(“Azzuri” is a nickname for the Italian national sports team, which has won the competition four times, but hasfailed to qualifyfor three successive tournaments). Zampolli is an Italian-American but has no apparent association with Italian soccer or the World Cup.
TheFinancial Timessuggested that Zampolli’s idea was designed to improve US and Italy relations after Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Melonicondemned Trump’s bizarre remarksabout Pope Leo XIV over the war in Iran.
You may be wondering: Why is an American envoy attempting to lobby on behalf of Italy instead of the US?
Zampollireposted theFinancial Times‘ Tuesday story on Xand, late Wednesday night, postedtwo screenshots of the Italian newspaperCorriere della Serareporting his World Cup proposal.
“Firstly, it is not possible, secondly it is not appropriate,” Italy’s sports minister, Andrea Abodi,toldLaPresse. “You qualify on the pitch.”
“The attempt to exclude Iran from the World Cup only reveals the moral bankruptcy of the United States, which is afraid even of the presence of eleven young Iranians on the field of play,” theIranian embassy said. A spokesperson for Iran’s government said Wednesday that Iran is prepared to play at the World Cup,according to the Associated Press.
According totheBBC, FIFA is not planning to replace Iran with Italy.
In other words, everyone hates the Trump administration.
Zampolli,a former head of a modeling agency in the ’90s, claims that he introduced Donald and Melania Trump and helped the first ladyobtain a work visain the mid-’90s. He even toldthe Daily Mailhe was prepared to testify before Congress followingMelania’s public denial earlier this monthof close connections to Jeffrey Epstein, including that it was the convicted sex offender introduced her to Donald Trump. Melania Trump called for a congressional hearing to allow survivors of Epstein’s abuse to testify.
