The only nonprofit newsroom in California dedicated exclusively to covering statewide issues that impact all Californians is CalMatters. Welcome. For a Saturday morning summary of the most recent Golden State news and analysis, sign up for WeeklyMatters.
This article is featured on California Voices, a discussion platform that aims to increase public awareness of the state and highlight Californians who are directly affected by policies or their lack. Find out more here.
In precisely three years, the 2028 Olympics will open in Los Angeles, and the Games’ preparations are accelerating at the same time as their political climate.
The politics are becoming more difficult, but the planning is progressing more smoothly.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board approved the Los Angeles sweeping venue plan in April, approving a regional effort that will include baseball at Dodger Stadium, cricket in Pomona, skateboarding and BMX racing in the San Fernando Valley, and surfing in San Clemente. It is evident that the host committee is moving quickly, addressing every aspect of planning, from venues to security and transportation.
There are still some fragments. For starters, the transportation problem is huge, and the plans that have been revealed thus far are not comprehensive. The initial pledges of a car-free games have changed to something less ambitious but more doable: public transportation choices that will make the games accessible.
On this front, too, there has been progress: the long-delayed connection between the area’s rail system and its airport is finally being completed. There will also be other L.A. Metro services involved.
After initial worries about a poor start, IOC officials praised the work being done when they visited Los Angeles this summer. Significant progress has been made, an IOC official stated, adding that detailed planning was progressing and that leadership was in place.
READ NEXT
Will the 2028 Olympics create lasting benefits for Los Angeles?
With the city, state, and organizing committee all taking on tasks, there is still a lot to do, but there is also time to do it. It helps that no large venues need to be constructed because this will be Los Angeles’ third time hosting the Summer Olympics.
It’s a reasonable challenge, though.
What about the politics? Not at all. President Donald Trump views the Olympics as an opportunity to demonstrate his political power rather than to convey togetherness and pride.
Trump cast doubt on the competence of local authorities earlier this month and put himself in the middle of a rescue effort that nobody requested. He named himself the chair of a federal task team that he declared.
The president even took advantage of the event to reiterate his two-pronged lie that he had opened up the water flow to Los Angeles, which is also untrue, and that the destruction caused by the January fires was due to a lack of water coming to the area from the Pacific Northwest.
Apart from bringing up old culture-war themes, it’s unclear what this task team can offer at this time. As is customary with his convoluted public speeches, he paused to reassure the audience that the United States will not permit men to take women’s Olympic prizes in 2028.
Additionally, Trump pledged that the federal government would provide security, a pledge he was unable to fulfill without threatening L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.
Trump declared that he would use the military or our National Guard to ensure the safety of the Olympics. It’s obvious that your mayor lacks competence.
Of course, we’ve seen this before. Trump mobilized federal troops to apprehend noncitizens in Los Angeles in June. This sparked protests downtown and infuriated neighborhoods where disguised federal officials began dragging people off the street. Although the demonstrations were violent for a short time, the Los Angeles Police Department was able to keep them under control.
After a night of fighting subsided by morning, Trump summoned the National Guard and then the Marines to bring order back where chaos had previously existed. The result was to cause difficulty and then take credit for the work done by local officials.
The same tactic is currently being used in Washington, D.C., where the president issued an emergency declaration and sent out the guard despite the fact that no objective assessment indicates that such an emergency exists or that such a reaction is required. In this way, the president’s self-centered use of force is motivated less by any actual threat in Washington and more by a need to shift the focus away from his reluctance to release the Epstein files or his dismal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Olympics will be no different, as Trump is determined to use every occasion to further his own agenda. Aligning the region’s interests with the president’s egono small feat – the goal for L.A. officials. However, you can sense their effort.
Bass, who will only be able to host the Olympics if she is reelected, artfully sidestepped Trump’s criticism of her.
She told Elex Michaelson of Fox LA that several presidents were quite noticeable at the opening and closing ceremonies. He will undoubtedly be present and make a significant impression. But will he be in charge of the Olympics? No.
READ more from Jim newton
Jerry Garcia wasn t political. But the Grateful Dead symbolized defiance in a deeply political moment
Los Angeles needs civic leaders right now. All it has are political ones
CalMatters has further information.
Text
Receive breaking news on your mobile device.
Get it here
Use our app to stay up to date.
Register
Get free updates delivered straight to your inbox.
Nonpartisan, independent California news for all
CalMatters is your impartial, nonprofit news source.
Our goal remains crucial, and our journalists are here to empower you.
-
We are independent and nonpartisan.
Our trustworthy journalism is free from partisan politics, free from corporate influence and actually free for all Californians. -
We are focused on California issues.
From the environment to homelessness, economy and more, we publish the unfettered truth to keep you informed. -
We hold people in power accountable.
We probe and reveal the actions and inactions of powerful people and institutions, and the consequences that follow.
However, without the help of readers like you, we are unable to continue.
Give what you can now, please. Every gift makes a difference.
California groundwater reform sets a dangerous precedent. Lawmakers should think twice