LA28 BETS ON UNITY BEYOND POLITICS

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Los Angeles Olympic officials are confident in federal support under the new administration.

Los Ange­les 2028 orga­niz­ers expressed opti­mism on Thurs­day about the incom­ing Trump admin­is­tra­tion’s com­mit­ment to sup­port­ing the Olympic Games, empha­siz­ing the need for a unit­ed effort to deliv­er a suc­cess­ful event.  

The fed­er­al gov­ern­ment is piv­otal to the suc­cess of the Games, pro­vid­ing essen­tial sup­port for secu­ri­ty, trans­porta­tion, and inter­na­tion­al trav­el. Casey Wasser­man, chair­man and pres­i­dent of LA28, reas­sured stake­hold­ers that the Olympics tran­scend par­ti­san divi­sions.  

“We’ve been build­ing strong rela­tion­ships with the incom­ing admin­is­tra­tion through its tran­si­tion team,” said LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover, a retired Army lieu­tenant gen­er­al who joined the orga­ni­za­tion in June. “Our fed­er­al part­ners across depart­ments and agen­cies play vital roles in ensur­ing we deliv­er the great­est Games ever.”  

“Pres­i­dent Trump was in office when Los Ange­les secured the Games in 2017, sign­ing fed­er­al­ly bind­ing agree­ments for secu­ri­ty and trans­porta­tion,” Wasser­man not­ed dur­ing a press con­fer­ence held after the Inter­na­tion­al Olympic Com­mit­tee (IOC) coor­di­na­tion commission’s vis­it. “The Olympics aren’t about pol­i­tics. They’re about red, white, and blue. These are America’s Games, tak­ing place in Los Ange­les, and they rise above pol­i­tics.”  

Ques­tions sur­round­ing poten­tial pol­i­cy shifts, such as the rein­tro­duc­tion of trav­el restric­tions tar­get­ing cer­tain coun­tries, have not damp­ened orga­niz­ers’ con­fi­dence. Wasser­man point­ed to past com­mit­ments made by Trump and his acknowl­edg­ment of the U.S.’s respon­si­bil­i­ty to host glob­al events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.  

“Trav­el, secu­ri­ty, trans­porta­tion, logis­tics – the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment has been a stead­fast part­ner, and we look for­ward to con­tin­u­ing that col­lab­o­ra­tion,” he said.  

As the nation pre­pares for the chal­lenges and oppor­tu­ni­ties the Games bring, the hope remains that uni­ty and com­mit­ment will take prece­dence over polit­i­cal pop­ulism, ensur­ing the Olympics remain a cel­e­bra­tion of glob­al con­nec­tion and excel­lence.