At the White House, speaking in front of banners adding the presidential seal to the logo for LA28, Trump said he would send the military back to Los Angeles if he so chose in order to protect the Games. In June, Trump sent the National Guard and U.S. Marines to the city amid widespread immigration enforcement actions, despite widespread condemnation from Mayor Karen Bass and other local officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe, including using our National Guard or military, OK?\u201d he said. \u201cI will use the National Guard or the military. This is going to be so safe. If we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s executive order establishes a task force led by him and Vice President JD Vance to steer federal coordination for the Games. The task force will work with federal, state and local partners on security and transportation, according to the White House.<\/p>\n
Those roles have been fairly standard for the federal government in past U.S.-hosted Olympic Games. But Trump\u2019s news conference could present questions about whether a president with a penchant for showmanship might assume an unusually active role in planning the Olympics, set to take place in the twilight of his final term.<\/p>\n
There is ample precedent for military and National Guard forces providing security support during U.S.-hosted Olympic Games. But coming on the heels of the recent military deployment to Los Angeles, Trump\u2019s comments may prove contentious.<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron was a key figure in preparations for last year\u2019s Paris Games, including expressing his vocal support for the ambitious Olympic opening ceremony plan to parade athletes down the Seine River on boats. Many officials were concerned about potential threats along the 3.7-mile stretch, but authorities responded by increasing security measures that included up to 45,000 police officers and 10,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n
The task force, to be housed within the Department of Homeland Security, will \u201cassist in the planning and implementation of visa processing and credentialing programs for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media personnel,\u201d the executive order said. City officials have expressed concern that the president\u2019s border policies<\/a> could deter international visitors and complicate visa processing for Olympic teams.<\/p>\n Tensions with L.A.<\/p>\n More concentrated involvement from Trump could spell further strain with Los Angeles city officials, who sought to make nice in the wake of devastating January fires, but have fiercely bucked Trump\u2019s recent immigration offensive. Trump swiped at Bass during his remarks on Tuesday, calling her \u201cnot very competent\u201d and criticizing the pace of city permitting for fire rebuilding. (Bass did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n Known for her coalition-building skills, Bass is not, by nature, a public brawler<\/a>. In the aftermath of the Palisades fire, she appeared determined to preserve her fragile relationship with the president \u2014 and the billions of dollars of federal aid her city was depending on \u2014 responding diplomatically even as he publicly attacked her.<\/p>\n But that determined cordiality crumbled when masked immigration agents and military personnel descended on the city<\/a>. With troops stationed in the city and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal authorities arresting undocumented immigrants at courthouses, car washes and Home Depot parking lots, Bass took on Trump forcefully.<\/p>\n At news conferences and in interviews, she accused the president of waging \u201can all-out assault on Los Angeles,\u201d inciting chaos and fear and using the city as \u201ca test case for an extremist agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA28, attended the White House event, thanking Trump for \u201cleaning in\u201d to planning for an Olympics that was awarded to Los Angeles during his first term.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve been supportive and helpful every step of the way,\u201d Wasserman said, noting that the Games would amount to hosting seven Super Bowls a day for 30 days. \u201cWith the creation of this task force, we\u2019ve unlocked the opportunity to level up our planning and deliver the largest, and yes, greatest Games for our nation, ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Wasserman will also have a delicate political balancing act, managing a Games in a deep-blue city with a famously mercurial Republican president in office.<\/p>\n President Trump holds a full set of medals from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles during Tuesday\u2019s event at which he announced an executive order regarding federal involvement in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.<\/p>\n (Julia Demaree Nikhinson \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n A Hollywood scion and sports and entertainment mogul, Wasserman has long been a prominent Democratic donor known for his close relationship with the Clintons.<\/p>\n But in recent months<\/a> he has diversified his giving, with hefty donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and House Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s leadership fund. Wasserman has publicly praised Trump\u2019s commitment to the Games and traveled to Mar-a-Lago<\/a> in January to meet with the incoming president.<\/p>\n Presidents have long played a role in the Games. In 1984, Ronald Reagan formally opened the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming the first American president to do so. Reagan attended several Olympic events, but repeatedly emphasized the federal government\u2019s role was focused on security, according to the White House Historical Assn.<\/p>\n The Olympic Charter requires the host country\u2019s head of state to officially open the Games, but before Reagan, the duty had been fulfilled by local political leaders or vice presidents representing the president.<\/p>\n Ever-tightening security<\/p>\n The federal government has historically provided significant funding when the Games are hosted on U.S. soil, with financial support going toward both security and infrastructure.<\/p>\n Leading up to the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the federal government spent $227 million on security and transportation, playing \u201cvery much a junior partner\u201d to the Olympic Committee, then-Vice President Al Gore said at the time<\/a>. Still, a bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park during the Games that summer<\/a> shook the security establishment.<\/p>\n The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were the first Games to be classified as a \u201cNational Special Security Event,\u201d the government\u2019s highest security rating for any event that designates the U.S. Secret Service as the lead agency for implementing security. That standard has remained in place for U.S.-held Olympic Games ever since. The Secret Service will also lead security coordination for the 2028 Games.<\/p>\n The federal government was particularly involved in the Salt Lake City Games, which were held just months after the 9\/11 attacks.<\/p>\n Los Angeles leaders are actively involved in the security planning, and are currently in negotiations with LA28 for the use of the city\u2019s police, traffic officers, and other employees during the Olympics and Paralympics.<\/p>\n Security, trash removal, traffic control, paramedics and more will be needed during the 17-day Olympics and the two-week Paralympics the following month.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n