The president said on Tuesday and Wednesday he could "take away" the seven games to be held at Foxborough's Gillette Stadium next summer if he felt "unsafe conditions" and public safety concerns in Boston warranted such action.

Trump pointed to the street takeovers that were "taking over parts of Boston."

He also said, "Somebody said, would we take, would we think about, taking the World Cup away from Boston if they don't straighten it out. The answer is 'Yes.' We have the right to do that with FIFA."

Trump's opinion brought a swift rebuttal from Wu, who said Trump had no such power.

In an appearance on "Java With Jimmy," Wu said most of the arrangements forged by Boston's FIFA World Cup host committee after months of planning are "locked down by contract so that no single person, even if they live in the White House currently, can undo it."

Wu, who Trump said was "radical left," "not good" and "a bad mayor," went on to say that "there's no ability to take away the World Cup games. There's no real threat when it comes to saying cities are so unsafe that they can't host the Games."

FIFA's statement on Friday should not come as a total surprise, given that FIFA president Gianni Infantino is a strong Trump supporter and has been at his side frequently, including the recent Gaza-Israel peace summit in Egypt.

"If I feel there's unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni -- the head of FIFA, who's phenomenal -- and I would say, 'Let's move it to another location,' and he would do that," Trump said. "He wouldn't love to do it, but he'd do it very easily."

Complicating FIFA's agreement with the president's stance is that Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, Major League Soccer's Revolution and the New England Patriots, is also on friendly terms with both Trump and Infantino.

Kraft's son Josh ran against Wu in the Democratic primary before dropping out after losing by 49 percentage points.

Other Massachusetts politicians weighed in this week against Trump'sview of his presidential powers and the Massachusetts map.

"First of all, he's talking about the crime rate in Boston. The World Cup is going to be played in Foxborough, so he should check his geography before he does anything else," Massachusetts House Speaker Ron Mariano told reporters Wednesday. "I don't know where the crime is high in Foxborough.

Can President Trump have World Cup soccer matches removed from Boston? FIFA says he just might have a say in the matter. - The Boston Globe