WASHINGTON (AP) — On Tuesday, President Donald Trump formed a task force dedicated to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, with the aim of ensuring the event is “safe, seamless, and historically successful.”
The 2028 Olympics will be the first held in the U.S. since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. The creation of this task force signifies the extensive preparation required for hosting the Olympics and highlights Trump’s eagerness to be part of an event he sees as a significant milestone of his presidency.
“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 stated as he signed an executive order at the White House to establish the task force.
The executive order mandates that the task force is responsible for coordinating security and logistics for the Games and expediting visa processing and credentialing for athletes, coaches, media, and other visitors coming to the U.S.
Trump emphasized that “we’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe,” suggesting this could possibly entail the deployment of “our National Guard or military.”
Earlier this year, Trump sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests.
President Trump will chair the task force, with Vice President JD Vance serving as vice chair. The task force also includes a number of Cabinet secretaries and key administration officials, such as Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who joined Trump at the announcement 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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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed reporting.
