Donald Trump ‘working hard’ to bring Olympics to Los Angeles
President Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind Los Angeles’s bid for the Olympics.
Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that he is “working hard” to bring the games to L.A. What, exactly, is he doing? That isn’t clear.
In fact, Los Angeles appears certain to land the games whether or not Trump gets involved. L.A. and Paris are the only two cities bidding for the 2024 games and the IOC is expected to vote soon on a proposal to award the 2024 and 2028 games simultaneously at a meeting in September. Since they are the only two cities in the running, approving the proposal all but guarantees Paris and Los Angeles will host in either 2024 or 2028. (Paris seems likely to host in 2024, since it is the 100th anniversary of the city’s last Olympics.)
Trump has a history of taking credit for positive news he actually had little to do with, though he did meet with IOC president Thomas Bach last month.
The major reason Los Angeles is nearly assured of hosting the Olympics is that several other cities have pulled out the running because of the massive costs associated with putting on the games. Rio de Janeiro has as much as $40 million in Olympics-related debt and the IOC is refusing to help the city pay it off.
UPDATE: The IOC voted later Tuesday—less than four hours after Trump’s tweet—to approve the proposal to award the 2024 and 2028 games at the same time, essentially locking up Los Angeles as a host city.
