Donald Trump interferes in the organization of the Los Angeles 2028 Games, with the creation of a special task force

Donald Trump sees his second term as US president coinciding with the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, and he seems determined to influence their organization. The leader of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement announced on Tuesday, August 5, the establishment of a task force for this purpose, which he will lead himself and which will include his Vice President, JD Vance, as well as several of his ministers and close advisors.

As he signed the text establishing the group in front of the cameras, Donald Trump promised to "mobilize the entire federal government to ensure that [the event] is safe, smooth, and a historic success." He added that he could "use the National Guard and active military personnel" to do so.

This interference risks reigniting already high tensions with local Democratic authorities. In June, Donald Trump requisitioned the National Guard in California, against the advice of Governor Gavin Newsom, a rare decision. The US president said he wanted to restore order in Los Angeles, which has been rocked by protests against the arrests of illegal immigrants by the federal immigration police (ICE).

In launching the task force on Tuesday, Donald Trump attacked Mr. Newsom as well as the mayor of the City of Angels, Karen Bass, whom he called "not very competent," accusing her once again of having mismanaged the response to the devastating fires that raged in the megacity in January .

There was no palpable animosity, however, between the head of the federal state and the head of the Los Angeles Organizing Committee (LA28), Casey Wasserman. The latter said on Tuesday that the establishment of the working group "marks an important step in [the] planning efforts and reflects [the] shared commitment to organizing not only the biggest, but also the most beautiful Games the world has ever known."

Wasserman presented Trump with copies of the gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded to athletes in 1984, the last time the Californian metropolis hosted the event. He also announced that the Olympic flame would travel to all 50 states and told Trump that if he wanted to be a torchbearer, he was "more than welcome." Trump had already done so, in the streets of New York in 2004, before the Athens Games.

On Tuesday, the US president also took the opportunity to congratulate Gene Sykes, chairman of the board of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), on the body's decision, announced on July 23, to ban transgender athletes from competing in women's categories . "The United States will not let men steal women's trophies," the head of state declared.

The President of the United States "considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting event," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt insisted in a statement. Los Angeles was chosen to host the 2028 Olympic Games in September 2017, during the Republican billionaire's first term.