MILAN (AP) — A fully fit Christian Pulisic will be feared by every Serie A team after the United States international led AC Milan to a 2-1 win over defending champion Napoli on Sunday.
It was Napoli’s first loss of the season.
Click to Gallery
Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte leaves the pitch after the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's head coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal past Napoli's goalkeeper Alex Meret during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates after the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Pisa's Antonio Caracciolo, right, and Fiorentina's Moise Kean in action during the Serie A soccer match between Pisa and Fiorentina at the Cetilar Arena Romeo Anconetani Stadium in Pisa, Italy, Sunday Sept. 28, 2025. (Alessandro La Rocca/LaPresse via AP)
Roma's goalkeeper Mile Svilar, center, saves a shot by Verona's Gift Orban during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Verona at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Roma's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Verona at the Olympic Stadium, in Rome, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Roma's Artem Dovbyk celebrates after scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Verona at Rome¥s Olympic Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri had said shortly before kickoff that Pulisic was not in the best shape but the American lit up San Siro and had a goal and an assist before he had to be sacrificed when his team was reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
It was Pulisic’s sixth goal in seven matches this season for Milan.
Milan and Napoli top the Serie A standings with 12 points along with Roma after the capital side beat Hellas Verona 2-0.
The match was billed as an early season title battle and it was also the first meeting in more than 11 years between two of the most successful Italian coaches in Allegri and Napoli counterpart Antonio Conte.
Milan got off to the perfect start as it took the lead after less than 150 seconds thanks to some magic from Pulisic. The American evaded Luca Marianucci to race from his own half down the left and keep the ball from going out. He cut in and went past the Napoli defender again to roll the ball across for Saelemaekers to tap in.
Milan should have doubled its lead through Pulisic's superb throughball but Youssouf Fofana fired over.
Pulisic got on the scoresheet himself in the 31st minute. This time it was Strahinja Pavlovic who was allowed to surge forward and he rode a couple of weak challenges before pulling back for Fofana, who touched it on for Pulisic to sweep home.
Milan appeared to be heading for a surprisingly comfortable win but made matters harder for itself when defender Pervis Estupiñán needlessly gave away a penalty and was sent off for dragging back Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the area.
Kevin De Bruyne converted the penalty for his third goal in five matches since joining Napoli on a free transfer from Manchester City.
With Milan down to 10 men and needing to protect a slender need, Pulisic was taken off for defender Davide Bartesaghi, going off to a standing ovation at San Siro.
Artem Dovbyk scored his first goal of the season on his first start for Roma but Verona was left to rue one of the misses of the season.
Gian Piero Gasperini continued his almost perfect start to life in the Italian capital — after nine years in charge of Atalanta — by winning all but one of his six matches in charge of Roma.
Dovbyk headed Zeki Celik’s cross into the bottom right corner in the seventh minute and Matías Soulé sealed the match late on.
But Verona wasted a number of opportunities to level, including in the 28th minute. Domagoj Bradaric’s low cross was deflected into the path of an unmarked Gift Orban, who just had to cushion the ball into an empty goal but instead he hit the crossbar.
Teenager Francesco Camarda scored a debut Serie A goal deep in stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Lecce at home to Bologna.
The 17-year-old, who is on loan from Milan, ripped off his jersey in celebration and was duly booked.
It was only Lecce's second point of the season.
Fiorentina forward Moise Kean had two goals disallowed for offside in an entertaining 0-0 draw in a derby match at Pisa, which also had a goal ruled out for handball.
Sassuolo beat Udinese 3-1.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Napoli's head coach Antonio Conte leaves the pitch after the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's head coach Massimiliano Allegri reacts during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal past Napoli's goalkeeper Alex Meret during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates after the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Pisa's Antonio Caracciolo, right, and Fiorentina's Moise Kean in action during the Serie A soccer match between Pisa and Fiorentina at the Cetilar Arena Romeo Anconetani Stadium in Pisa, Italy, Sunday Sept. 28, 2025. (Alessandro La Rocca/LaPresse via AP)
Roma's goalkeeper Mile Svilar, center, saves a shot by Verona's Gift Orban during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Verona at Rome's Olympic Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Roma's head coach Gian Piero Gasperini gestures during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Verona at the Olympic Stadium, in Rome, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Roma's Artem Dovbyk celebrates after scoring during the Serie A soccer match between Roma and Verona at Rome¥s Olympic Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Most American presidents aspire to the kind of greatness that prompts future generations to name important things in their honor.
Donald Trump isn't leaving it to future generations.
As the first year of his second term wraps up, his administration and allies have put the president’s name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and a new class of battleships.
That’s on top of the “Trump Accounts” for tax-deferred investments, the TrumpRx government website soon to offer direct sales of prescription drugs, the “Trump Gold Card” visa that costs at least $1 million and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a transit corridor included in a deal his administration brokered between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
On Friday, he plans to attend a ceremony in Florida where local officials will dedicate a 4-mile (6-kilometer) stretch of road from the airport to his Mar-a-Lago estate as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
It’s unprecedented for a sitting president to embrace tributes of that number and scale, especially those proffered by members of his administration. And while past sitting presidents have typically been honored by local officials naming schools and roads after them, it's exceedingly rare for airports, federal buildings, warships or other government assets to be named for someone still in power.
“At no previous time in history have we consistently named things after a president who was still in office,” said Jeffrey Engel, the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “One might even extend that to say a president who is still alive. Those kind of memorializations are supposed to be just that — memorials to the passing hero.”
White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said the TrumpRx website linked to the president's deals to lower the price of some prescription drugs, along with “overdue upgrades of national landmarks, lasting peace deals, and wealth-creation accounts for children are historic initiatives that would not have been possible without President Trump’s bold leadership.”
"The Administration’s focus isn’t on smart branding, but delivering on President Trump’s goal of Making America Great Again," Huston said.
The White House pointed out that the nation's capital was named after President George Washington and the Hoover Dam was named after President Herbert Hoover while each was serving as president.
For Trump, it’s a continuation of the way he first etched his place onto the American consciousness, becoming famous as a real estate developer who affixed his name in big gold letters on luxury buildings and hotels, a casino and assorted products like neckties, wine and steaks.
As he ran for president in 2024, the candidate rolled out Trump-branded business ventures for watches, fragrances, Bibles and sneakers — including golden high tops priced at $799. After taking office again last year, Trump's businesses launched a Trump Mobile phone company, with plans to unveil a gold-colored smartphone and a cryptocurrency memecoin named $TRUMP.
That’s not to be confused with plans for a physical, government-issued Trump coin that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said the U.S. Mint is planning.
Trump has also reportedly told the owners of Washington’s NFL team that he would like his name on the Commanders’ new stadium. The team’s ownership group, which has the naming rights, has not commented on the idea. But a White House spokeswoman in November called the proposed name “beautiful” and said Trump made the rebuilding of the stadium possible.
The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center in December so outraged independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that he introduced legislation this week to ban the naming or renaming of any federal building or land after a sitting president — a ban that would retroactively apply to the Kennedy Center and Institute of Peace.
“I think he is a narcissist who likes to see his name up there. If he owns a hotel, that’s his business,” Sanders said in an interview. “But he doesn’t own federal buildings.”
Sanders likened Trump's penchant for putting his name on government buildings and more to the actions of authoritarian leaders throughout history.
“If the American people want to name buildings after a president who is deceased, that’s fine. That’s what we do,” Sanders said. “But to use federal buildings to enhance your own position very much sounds like the ‘Great Leader’ mentality of North Korea, and that is not something that I think the American people want.”
Although some of the naming has been suggested by others, the president has made clear he’s pleased with the tributes.
Three months after the announcement of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, a name the White House says was proposed by Armenian officials, the president gushed about it at a White House dinner.
“It’s such a beautiful thing, they named it after me. I really appreciate it. It’s actually a big deal,” he told a group of Central Asian leaders.
Engel, the presidential historian, said the practice can send a signal to people "that the easiest way to get access and favor from the president is to play to his ego and give him something or name something after him.”
Some of the proposals for honoring Trump include legislation in Congress from New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney that would designate June 14 as “Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day," placing the president with the likes of Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington and Jesus Christ, whose birthdays are recognized as national holidays.
Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube has introduced legislation that calls for the Washington-area rapid transit system, known as the Metro, to be renamed the “Trump Train.” North Carolina Republican Rep. Addison McDowell has introduced legislation to rename Washington Dulles International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport.
McDowell said it makes sense to give Dulles a new name since Trump has already announced plans to revamp the airport, which currently is a tribute to former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
The congressman said he wanted to honor Trump because he feels the president has been a champion for combating the scourge of fentanyl, a personal issue for McDowell after his brother’s overdose death. But he also cited Trump’s efforts to strike peace deals all over the world and called him “one of the most consequential presidents ever.”
“I think that’s somebody that deserves to be honored, whether they’re still the president or whether they’re not," he said.
More efforts are underway in Florida, Trump’s adopted home.
Republican state lawmaker Meg Weinberger said she is working on an effort to rename Palm Beach International Airport as Donald J. Trump International Airport, a potential point of confusion with the Dulles effort.
The road that the president will see christened Friday is not the first Florida asphalt to herald Trump upon his return to the White House.
In the south Florida city of Hialeah, officials in December 2024 renamed a street there as President Donald J. Trump Avenue.
Trump, speaking at a Miami business conference the next month, called it a “great honor” and said he loved the mayor for it.
“Anybody that names a boulevard after me, I like,” he said.
He added a few moments later: “A lot of people come back from Hialeah, they say, ‘They just named a road after you.' I say, ‘That’s OK.’ It’s a beginning, right? It’s a start.”
FILE - A sign for the Rose Garden is seen near the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade at the White House, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as a flag pole is installed on the South Lawn of the White House, June 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A poster showing the Trump Gold Card is seen as President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)
