LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Jan 21 (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee has not yet had any formal communication with the White House and U.S. President Donald Trump on preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics, IOC President Kirsty Coventry said on Wednesday.
Trump marked the end of a turbulent first year in office on Tuesday, having rocked international diplomatic waters with his case for acquiring Greenland as an Arctic guard post against Russia and China, and threatening a trade war with Europeans who oppose him.
Emboldened by his ousting of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and seizing control of that country’s oil, Trump has also talked of acting against Cuba and Colombia as well as Iran.
Asked if there had been any talks with the White House in recent months amid rising international tension over preparation for the Los Angeles Olympics, expected to bring together more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 nations, Coventry said it was not up to the IOC to comment on geopolitics.
“We are always aware of all the conversations that are happening and the geopolitics and political conversations happening,” she told a press conference.
“I want to make clear that it is not in our remit to comment on such matters. Our goal is to have all National Olympic Committees represented at the Games.
“As it pertains to the USA we have not had formal communication just yet with the White House. We have seen the formal announcement of President Trump’s team (for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics next month.) We look forward to meeting the vice president,” said Coventry.
Vice President JD Vance will lead the American presidential delegation to the Games’ opening ceremony on February 6. He will be joined by his wife, Usha Vance, the second lady of the U.S., in Italy.
The U.S. is co-hosting the soccer World Cup later this year, with Gianni Infantino, the President of the sport’s world governing body FIFA, having repeatedly met with Trump at the White House and also awarding him a peace prize in December.
“If we weren’t seeing good relations six months before the World Cup I would get worried,” Coventry said of Infantino’s ties with the White House. “As we get closer to the Olympics you will see the relations continue … and only get stronger.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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