Washington, Aug 6: 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 US since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“The LA Olympics is shaping up to be a wonderful moment for America. It is going to be incredible. It is so exciting,” Trump said as he signed an executive order at the White House establishing the task force.
The White House did not immediately release the text of the order or details about the task force’s work.
At the event, Trump praised Gene Sykes, chair of the US 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 did not 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 honour 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”.
LA28 president and chair Casey 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”.
During a briefing on Tuesday afternoon, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the task force would “coordinate across federal, state and local agencies to ensure streamlined visa processes, robust security and efficient transportation”.
Members of the task force include Vice President J D Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, among others, Trump announced on Tuesday.
Along with the 2028 Summer Games, Trump has said that the 2026 FIFA World Cup being hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico is among the events he is 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.(AP)
