PARIS (AP) — The U.S. women's basketball team isn't focused on its record Olympic winning streak or the history the team would make with one more victory.
The Americans are simply concentrating on beating France and winning the gold medal at the Paris Games on Sunday.
“The winning streak doesn’t mean a lot. But to win it all, it means the world to me," star A'ja Wilson said. "I can’t really pay attention to a lot of streaks. I feel like that’s just added-on pressure. But to come here and keep the main thing the main thing and winning it, it’s something that going to mean the world to me. To continue to be a part of the legacy, the journey that this team, to wear this jersey and others that have here before me, is awesome. So, it’s going to mean a lot for us.”
With a victory on Sunday, the U.S. women's legacy would stretch to 61 consecutive wins in Olympic contests and a record eight straight gold medals. That would break a tie with the U.S. men's program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.
A victory would give Diana Taurasi a sixth consecutive gold medal, making her the most decorated basketball player in Olympic history, breaking a tie with longtime teammate Sue Bird, who won five.
Taurasi has been humble about the potential record, saying she cares more about the team winning then her individual success. It's been a trying Olympics for her as she hasn't started the last two games, the first time she wasn't in the opening lineup since the 2004 Olympics.
Standing in the way is a French team that will be spurred on by a loud, energetic crowd. The game will be a rematch from the 2012 London Olympics, which the U.S. won by 36 points.
“I think it will be an incredible atmosphere. I think that when you play the host country in their country, you expect it to be off the chain," U.S. wing Breanna Stewart said. “Obviously in Tokyo we played Japan, but there was no spectators. And you want that, you want that loud excitement.”
The Americans have put together strong halves and quarters but still haven't played a great 40 minutes. That's been good enough to run through the Olympics so far, with no team able to come within single digits of them.
French players know they have a tall task in front of them to capture the country's first gold medal and pull off the monumental upset.
“You have to believe if you want to do something special,” French wing Gabby Williams said. “What I love is, is our connection between us and our belief in each other. And if anything’s going to bring us gold, it’s going to be that.”
French guard Marine Johannes knows who's on the other team.
“All the best players in the world. But like I said earlier, we have nothing to lose,” she said. “We are going to play hard.”
Sunday's game will cap off a weekend in which France and the U.S. play for both the men's and women's gold medal. It's the first time that's happened in Olympic history.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Marieme Badiane (22), lifts Romane Bernies (47), of France, as they celebrate with Marine Fauthoux (4) after France beat Belgium during a women's semifinal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Marieme Badiane (22), of France, lifts Romane Bernies (47), of France, as they celebrate after France beat Belgium during a women's semifinal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
United States' Brittney Griner (15) celebrates a basket against Australia during a women's semifinal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Team USA celebrate a basket against Australia during a women's semifinal basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has fired several White House National Security Council officials after he was urged by far-right activist Laura Loomer to purge staffers she deemed insufficiently loyal to his “Make America Great Again” agenda, several people familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Loomer made her case for the firings to Trump in an Oval Office meeting on Wednesday, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel matters. Vice President JD Vance, chief of staff Susie Wiles, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Sergio Gor, director of the Presidential Personnel Office, took part in the meeting, the people said.
The move by Trump to push out staff comes at a tumultuous moment for Waltz, as he fights calls for his ouster after using the publicly available encrypted Signal app to discuss planning for the sensitive March 15 military operation targeting Houthi militants in Yemen. Trump has said he stands by Waltz, who traveled to Florida with Trump on Thursday for a dinner event ahead of the LIV Golf tournament in Miami.
The Presidential Personnel Office has fired at least three senior NSC officials and multiple lower-ranking aides since Wednesday’s meeting with Loomer, according to the people familiar with the situation. NSC spokesman Brian Hughes declined to comment on the meeting or the firings, saying the White House does not discuss personnel matters.
Loomer, who has promoted 9/11 conspiracy theories, was a frequent presence on the campaign trail during Trump’s 2024 successful White House run. More recently, she’s been speaking out on social media about members of Trump’s national security team that she insists can’t be trusted.
“It was an honor to meet with President Trump and present him with my research findings,” Loomer said in a Thursday posting on X. “I will continue working hard to support his agenda, and I will continue reiterating the importance of, and the necessity of STRONG VETTING, for the sake of protecting the President of the United States of America, and our national security.”
Trump has a long history of elevating and associating with people who trade in falsehoods and conspiracy theories, and he regularly amplifies posts on his social media site shared by those like Loomer, who promotes QAnon, an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory centered on the belief that Trump is fighting the “deep state.”
Trump's national security team has been through a difficult stretch as officials struggle to answer questions about why they were using the Signal app to discuss planning for an operation targeting Houthi militants instead of using far more secure communication means.
The use of Signal for operation planning came to light because a journalist, The Atlantic magazine’s Jeffrey Goldberg, was mistakenly added to the chain and revealed that Trump’s team used it to discuss precise timing of the operation, aircraft used to carry out the strikes and more.
Waltz has taken responsibility for building the text chain but has said he does not know how Goldberg ended up being included.
The Pentagon’s acting inspector general announced Thursday that he would review Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of Signal to convey plans on the Houthi operations. The review will also look at other defense officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app.
Loomer, in the leadup to Wednesday's meeting with Trump, had complained to sympathetic administration officials that she had been excluded from the NSC vetting process as Waltz built his staff, according to one person familiar with the matter. She believes Waltz was too reliant in the process on “neocons” — shorthand for the more hawkish neoconservatives within the Republican Party — as well as what she perceived as “not-MAGA-enough” types, the person said.
Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican who sits on Senate committees overseeing the military and national intelligence, said it “raises eyebrows” when “there is a firing of people on the National Security Council or their staff, particularly people that we have respect for, who were part of the Intel community to begin with here in the Senate.”
Waltz, in the first days of Trump's return to Washington, sent about 160 nonpolitical detailees assigned to the NSC back to their home agencies to ensure those at the White House were committed to implementing Trump’s America First agenda.
The move sidelined nonpolitical experts on topics that range from counterterrorism to global climate policy at a time when the United States is dealing with a disparate set of complicated foreign policy matters, including conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Last week, Adam Schleifer, an assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was fired without explanation in a terse email from the White House personnel office shortly after Loomer posted about him on social media, according to a person familiar with the matter.
This story has been corrected to show the surname of The Atlantic journalist is Goldberg, not Rosenberg.
Lee reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed reporting.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
