Donald Trump may be powerless to have say on LA28 Olympic Games decisions
US President Donald Trump may have no power over decision-making ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games despite previously threatening to move the event to another American city.
Just days after the conclusion of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will no doubt be looking ahead to the LA Games.
Five new sports have already been confirmed ahead of the event, with baseball/softball, T20 cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash added to the list of disciplines.
LA was officially awarded the 2028 Games at the 131st IOC session in Lima, Peru, in September during Trump’s first term.
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And despite the Games, much like the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, being an opportunity to show the best of American sport as well as the nation’s ability to host such a prestigious event, Trump has previously threatened to move the Games away over “unsafe conditions”.
Speaking in October 2025, Trump explained how he wouldn’t hesitate to move the Games if he “thought LA was not going to be prepared properly”.
“On that one, I’d probably have to get a different kind of a permission, but we would do that,” the President explained.
Despite his previous comments, on Tuesday (February 24), when speaking at his State of the Union address, the 79-year-old appeared to be looking forward to LA28 and suggested that the US were “going to do a good job in Los Angeles”.
“Los Angeles is going to be safe, just like Washington D.C. is one of the safest cities in the country,” he explained.
But should Trump change his mind, could he move the Games to another city?
As previously mentioned, in a similar fashion to FIFA and the World Cup, decisions directly related to the Olympic Games are down to the IOC, although Trump could effectively attempt to ‘pressure’ such organisations into making decisions given his status and power in the US.
However, by the summer of 2028, Trump will be entering the final few months of his second term as president, with the next presidential election set for November 2028.
Speaking about the topic in an exclusive interview with SPORTbible, Professor Simon Chadwick, who has advised FIFA and Barcelona among other global sporting organisations, explained: "The interesting thing about 2028 is, of course, that it's the last year in the presidential office of Donald Trump. And technically, he needs to step down because he'll have served two terms. Under the US Constitution, he can't serve anymore.
“But we already know that he's suggesting that maybe he'll last longer and go on for more than just two terms.
“So, I think there will be some choppy waters and some difficult territory to navigate between now and the Olympic Games."
Despite Trump stating that it would be the “greatest honour” to serve “not once, but twice, or three or four times”, the US Constitution does not allow presidents to serve more than two terms.
The 22nd Amendment states: "No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice, and no person who has held the office of president, or acted as president, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president shall be elected to the office of the president more than once."
For this to change, it would have to be put to the Senate and House of Representatives, with a two-thirds approval from both needed to make the alteration.
Topics: Donald Trump, Olympics
Luke Davies