Trump creates task force to prepare for 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday established a task force on the 2028 Olympic Games being held in Los Angeles that he said would ensure the event is "safe, seamless and historically successful.”

The 2028 Games will be the first Olympics to be hosted by the U.S. since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah. Setting up the task force reflects the intense planning that comes with hosting the Olympics, as well as Trump’s desire to be involved in an event he considers one of the highlights of his term.

“The L.A. Olympics is shaping up to be a wonderful moment for America. It’s going to be incredible. It’s so exciting,” Trump said as he signed an executive order at the White House establishing the task force.

The executive order calls for the task force to coordinate security and planning for the Games, streamline visa processing and credentialing for the athletes, coaches, media and other visitors coming to the U.S.

Trump said that "we’ll do anything necessary to keep the Olympics safe,” adding that could potentially include deploying “our National Guard or military.”

Earlier this year, Trump sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests.

Trump will serve as chair of the task force, with Vice President JD Vance as vice chair. Other members include a number of Cabinet secretaries and administration officials, like Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who appeared alongside Trump on Tuesday.

Also present were Olympic champion gymnast Nastia Liukin and Brad Snyder, a swimmer who competed at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Trump praised Gene Sykes, chair of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee board of directors, for the USOPC’s move to effectively bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

“The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics,” Trump said.

He questioned why he didn’t hear applause from the room when he praised Sykes for it, and then received some claps from some people in the room.

Trump “considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, calling sports one of the president's “greatest passions.” During the signing event, LA28 president and chair Casey Wasserman presented Trump with a set of gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1984 Olympic Games, which were held in Los Angeles.

“Can I say I won them athletically?” Trump asked, as he displayed the medals to an audience of reporters.

Wasserman said the task force "marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028.”

Along with the 2028 Summer Games, Trump has said that the 2026 FIFA World Cup being hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico is among the events he's most looking forward to in his second term.

In preparation for next year's competition, the governments of all three countries on Tuesday said they had held the first meeting of a trilateral coordinating council of government officials, industry leaders and security professionals discussing a variety of issues including preparedness for any security threats ahead of the World Cup.

Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed reporting.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Lehigh Valley International Airport, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump listens as Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA28, presents him a full set of medals from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, during an event regarding the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attorney General Pam Bondi, right, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem listen as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump hands a signed executive order about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, to Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA28, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump holds a full set of medals from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, during an event regarding the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One at Lehigh Valley International Airport, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, in Allentown, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The president's threat comes a day after a federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Minneapolis man who had attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger radiating across the Minnesota city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

The Associated Press has reached out to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”

Things later quietened down and by early Thursday only a few demonstrators and law enforcement officers remained at the scene.

Demonstrations have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since the ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Good on Jan. 7. Agents have yanked people from their cars and homes, and have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding that the officers pack up and leave.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the situation as not “sustainable.”

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” he said.

Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, scaring and angering residents.

In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday's shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.

After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.

The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.

O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.

The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.

During a speech before the latest shooting, Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what's happening in the state “defies belief.”

“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”

Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.

The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.

Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.

Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.

Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.

Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)