Hours following Trump’s restrictive immigration policy was announced, various sports entities, including the NBA, MLS, and the UFC, had contacted State Department to determine how this would impact their respective businesses. The EO also threatened U.S. bids for the Olympic Games and World Cup. However, it was the policy’s impact on amateur wrestling that resulted in retaliatory action from Iran.

A number of American museums have added their voices to ongoing protests against the policies of the Trump administration, particularly its travel ban on refugees and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Following the president’s executive order introducing the ban last month, which has since been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, a number of high profile US institutions issued statements condemning the measure.

How should the Trump administration approach Pyongyang diplomatically? Given a widespread, rigid view among U.S. policymakers that the Kim regime is nothing more than an “evil deceiver” and the tendency of those policymakers to automatically equate talking to North Korea with a reward, setting up a low-profile back channel with North Korean negotiators should be prioritized first. 

During the visit, the players will hold an exhibition game together with players from the Israeli Football Association on February 18 in Jerusalem. Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Minister Gilad Erdan expressed hope the visit would offer the players “a balanced picture of Israel, the opposite from the false incitement campaign that is being waged against Israel around the world.”

The ACLU is America’s non-partisan guardian of liberty, working tirelessly since 1920 to defend the country’s original civic values, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They have no political affiliation or ideological component to their mission. Today they’re defending innocent refugee and immigrant families impacted by the recent executive orders—tomorrow they could be defending you, because they are committed to defending all of us.

Castro said that past presidents including George W. Bush have understood the value of economic and cultural exchange between the U.S. and Mexico. But Trump isn’t like past presidents. "Of course, there was a phone call recently between President Trump and President Pena-Nieto," Castro said. "That was not encouraging. My hope is that the president will surround himself with good people that understand the relationship.

The event opened the door for other U.S. sports and cultural exchanges, too. “In the past, wrestling has played an important role in diplomacy,” Bender said. “This looks like a setback for sure. But it doesn’t necessarily impact our relationship with the Iranian wrestling federation.”