Olympics chief admits she has not spoken to US president Trump about LA 2028 Games | LA Olympic Games 2028
The International Olympic Committee has not yet established formal communication with US President Donald Trump on preparations for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, confirmed IOC President Kirsty Coventry.
Trump spoke in Davos, Switzerland, after a turbulent start to 2026 in which he suggested he would invade Greenland, threatened a trade war with Europe and ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Coventry confirmed she had no plans to meet Trump amid growing global tensions ahead of the 2028 Olympics, which are expected to bring together more than 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries, and said she did not want to get involved in geopolitics.
“We are always aware of all the conversations that are happening and the geopolitical and political conversations that are happening,” Coventry said Wednesday. “I would like to clarify that it is not our role to comment on such matters. Our goal is that all National Olympic Committees are represented at the Games.”
Coventry, however, plans to meet American Vice-President JD Vance before the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on February 6.
“As far as the United States is concerned, we have not yet had any formal communication with the White House,” she said. “We attended the official announcement of President Trump’s team. We look forward to meeting the Vice President.”
But at a press conference in Lausanne, Coventry emphasized Olympic values ​​and spoke of countries coming together in harmony – which sounded like a quiet rebuke to the US administration.
“We will work extremely hard to protect the Olympic Games and the Olympic Games platform,” she said. “Because it shows how we can live and how we can understand each other. You don’t have to speak the same language to understand what each other is trying to accomplish, or to appreciate each other. And for me, especially in today’s world, these are values ​​that we must make sure to protect.”
The United States is also co-hosting this year’s World Cup, with Fifa president Gianni Infantino meeting with Trump several times at the White House and controversially awarding him a peace prize in December.
Asked if she could learn from Infantino’s approach, Coventry said: “If we didn’t have a good relationship six months before the World Cup, I would be worried. As we get closer to the Olympics, you will see that the relationship continues… and will only get stronger.”
Furthermore, the executive director of the Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, admitted that there was still work to be done on the Cortina sliding track, as well as on the hall and temporary works of the ice hockey arena. However, he insisted that all venues for the Winter Olympics would be ready on time.
“With the slide, we can’t deny that there is work to be done,” Dubi said. “For hockey, the work inside the hall and the temporary works, which are last minute in nature, will be ready in a few days. But they are still working. There is a lot of confidence and workers on the field. So we will be ready to welcome the best athletes.”
