Donald Trump said on Aug. 5 that he might call in National Guard troops and other members of the U.S. military to assist with security efforts at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Trump’s comments came after he signed an executive order to create a White House task force that will handle an assortment of issues surrounding the Games, which will be the first on U.S. soil since 2002. It’s been less than two months since he deployed thousands of troops to the Los Angeles area to suppress protests and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during raids.
‘We’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe − including using our National Guard, or military,’ Trump said. ‘I will use the National Guard or military − this is going to be so safe − if we have to.’
The Olympics task force, which he will chair, will coordinate security and transportation efforts across various arms of the federal government, while also working to ‘streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media,’ according to a fact sheet distributed by the White House. Those types of coordination efforts are common ahead of the Olympics and typically spearheaded by the federal government of the host nation.
Trump was joined at the ceremony by several other members of the task force, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr. Former Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin and Paralympic swimmer Brad Snyder were also on hand for the signing.
Casey Wasserman, the chairperson of the 2028 Los Angeles organizing committee, praised Trump’s longstanding support for the Games, dating back to the bid process during Trump’s first term in office. He said the organization’s Games plan was ‘near final’ and said the White House task force will simply help elevate those plans.
‘In just 1,074 days − yes we’re counting, sir − the eyes of the world will be on this country,’ Wasserman said. ‘… These will be truly America’s Games.’
Wasserman also gifted Trump a set of original Olympic medals from the last Summer Games to be held in Los Angeles, in 1984.
It is unclear how closely the task force will work with state entities and officials in California, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Both are Democrats and have clashed with Trump over domestic policy issues in the heavily-Democratic state, including the Trump administration’s attempts to enforce immigration law. Trump criticized Bass, in particular, during his remarks to reporters after signing the executive order.
‘LA’s a little bit different place than it was when selected, but we’re going to bring it back stronger than ever,’ Trump added. ‘I spoke to Casey about that. He said nope, we’re going to make it better than ever. It’s going to be something that makes it even more important as an Olympic Games.
‘It was an interesting conversation we had, as the fires were raging (during protests in the city). Is that right? And I appreciated that very much.’
Trump also used Tuesday’s executive order news conference as an opportunity to praise the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee for its recent move to prevent transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
When asked about the possible participation of transgender women at the 2028 Olympics, Trump said there ‘is going to be a very strong form of (gender) testing’ for competing athletes − though that would likely be in violation of LA28’s host contract with the International Olympic Committee, unless the IOC approves or implements such testing independently.
Trump was also asked about the chance that transgender women athletes could face criminal charges. He said he would defer such matters to Bondi.
The creation of the Olympics task force comes about five months after Trump created a similar task force to handle issues surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup for men’s soccer. The president appointed Andrew Giuliani, the son of his close ally Rudy Giuliani, as executive director of that group.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @tomschad.bsky.social.