WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday established a task force on the 2028 Olympic Games being held in Los Angeles that he said would ensure the event is “safe, seamless and historically successful.”
The 2028 Games will be the first Olympics to be hosted by the U.S. since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. Setting up the task force reflects the intense planning that comes with hosting the Olympics, as well as Trump’s desire to be involved in an event he considers one of the highlights of his term.
“The L.A. Olympics is shaping up to be a wonderful moment for America. It’s going to be incredible. It’s so exciting,” Trump said as he signed an executive order at the White House establishing the task force.
The executive order calls for the task force to coordinate security and planning for the Games, streamline visa processing and credentialing for the athletes, coaches, media and other visitors coming to the U.S.
Trump said that “we’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe,” adding that could potentially include deploying “our National Guard or military.”
Earlier this year, Trump sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests.
Trump will serve as chair of the task force, with Vice President JD Vance as vice chair. Other members include a number of Cabinet secretaries and administration officials, like Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who appeared alongside Trump on Tuesday.
Also present were Olympic champion gymnast Nastia Liukin and Brad Snyder, a swimmer who competed at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Trump praised Gene Sykes, chair of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee board of directors, for the USOPC’s move to effectively bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
“The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics,” Trump said.
He questioned why he didn’t hear applause from the room when he praised Sykes for it, and then received some claps from some people in the room.
Trump “considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, calling sports one of the president’s “greatest passions.” During the signing event, LA28 president and chair Casey Wasserman presented Trump with a set of gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1984 Olympic Games, which were held in Los Angeles.
“Can I say I won them athletically?” Trump asked, as he displayed the medals to an audience of reporters.
Wasserman said the task force “marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028.”
Along with the 2028 Summer Games, Trump has said that the 2026 FIFA World Cup being hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico is among the events he’s most looking forward to in his second term.
In preparation for next year’s competition, the governments of all three countries on Tuesday said they had held the first meeting of a trilateral coordinating council of government officials, industry leaders and security professionals discussing a variety of issues including preparedness for any security threats ahead of the World Cup.
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Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed reporting.
