President Trump plans to announce a new federal task force on Tuesday, which will oversee the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Variety has confirmed.
The unveiling will feature several Olympic athletes and members of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees in attendance. The task force is set to be an intergovernmental initiative, comprising law enforcement and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.
“During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America’s bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement. “The President considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term. Sports is one of President Trump’s greatest passions, and his athletic expertise, combined with his unmatched hospitality experience, will make these Olympic events the most exciting and memorable in history.”
“On behalf of LA28, I want to express our deep appreciation to President Trump and his Administration for their leadership and unwavering support as we prepare to deliver the largest and most ambitious Olympic and Paralympic Games ever hosted in the United States,” added Casey Wasserman, chairperson and president of LA28. “Since we secured this historic opportunity in 2017, President Trump has consistently recognized the magnitude of our responsibility in welcoming the world to Los Angeles. The creation of this 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.”
Such a task force is not entirely unheard of in planning for the Olympics, but it is usually led by law enforcement entities. The federal government typically steps in to secure bids for a city — not after a city has already been selected.
Trump’s plan to lead the L.A. Olympics could be met with pushback from state leaders like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom, given the president’s frequent clashes with the California government. In June, Trump greenlit a wave of aggressive ICE raids in the city, a move Bass slammed as a “reign of terror.” Trump also vocally disapproved of Bass and Newsom’s response to January’s Los Angeles wildfires, blaming the struggle for containment on their “gross incompetence.”
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