Feb. 19 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed the federal government’s support for Los Angeles’ hosting of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.
Trump attended a meeting with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee organizers Tuesday at the Montage Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles, where he signed a document pledging the government’s support for the city’s hosting of the international games.
He said it confirms the government’s “total support” of the endeavor that will be a “major economic victory.”
The multi-week event will create 112,000 jobs and add $18 billion to the economy, including $7 billion in wages, he said.
“From the day I took office, I’ve done everything in my power to make sure that L.A. achieves the winning bid,” he said. “And now for the third time in history, the city of Los Angeles — the city of angels — will once again lift up the Olympic torch and welcome the world’s greatest competitors to the Summer Games.”
The announcement comes amid frayed relations between the state of California’s Democratic leaders and Trump as they have filed several lawsuits against his administration’s environment and immigration policies.
Trump has also chastised the city of Los Angeles over its homelessness crisis, which he touched on Tuesday, stating if its politicians don’t do something to fix the situation, the federal government may have to jump in.
“We’re really taking a role in it,” he said. “I see it, I see what’s happening to L.A., I see what’s happening to San Francisco … There’s no reason this should’ve happened.”
Following the meeting, Trump was to meet with supporters at a joint fundraising committee dinner at the hotel.
Los Angeles was selected in September 2017 to host the 2028 games, which will be its third time hosting the event after having done so in 1984 and 1932.
