By SAJE Staff

August 7, 2025

On Tuesday, August 5, President Trump gathered members of his cabinet alongside LA 28 Chairman and frequent “Lolita Express” flyer Casey Wasserman to sign an executive order announcing the creation of a new White House security task force to oversee planning and response for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. President Trump will chair the task force himself, working alongside Vice Chair JD Vance and head officials from multiple federal agencies including the:

• Department of State
• Department of Justice
• Department of Homeland Security
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Secret Service
• Department of Transportation

Together, the task force will use “every tool at [its] disposal” over the next 1,072 days to facilitate an event that’s “safe, seamless, and historically successful.” The task force will be housed in the Department of Homeland Security, which will pull from its $165 billion budget allocation to provide funding and administrative support. During the press conference, Trump also promised to redeploy the National Guard and military to Los Angeles as needed to “keep our Olympics safe.”

But safe for whom? As journalist Alissa Walker asked on this week’s episode of AirTalk with Larry Mantle, “What is the Trump administration’s definition of security?” If the last two months in Los Angeles are any indication, this intensified concern over “security” certainly won’t be in the interest of the people who actually live here and will harm local residents in the process.

We know that the 2028 Olympics are already designated as an active NSSE, or National Special Security Event, which gives the federal government enhanced jurisdiction over security protocols and intensifies federal overreach into local law enforcement agencies. During an NSSE, the government will often deploy “special ordinances,” or exceptions, allowing law enforcement to bypass previously upheld procedures and practices at all levels. This means excessive policing, suppression of protest, and the absence of due process are all already on the table.

So why do we need another task force? Trump seeks total, explicit control over the 2028 Olympics, “an unprecedented level of coordination” in advancing his extremist agenda, on top of the implicit control he already holds via the NSSE designation. It’s not enough for the current administration to psychologically and economically terrorize Angelenos while kidnapping residents in open defiance of court orders—the process also needs to be branded with big, beautiful letters like a now-bankrupt Atlantic City casino.

This summer’s attacks on immigrants are only the tip of the iceberg. This week’s press conference repeatedly emphasized a need to “focus on making sure [Los Angeles is] a safe place for visitors.” In lieu of investing in services and infrastructure that could improve life for all Angelenos in the long term, our government will be funding a new task force that will be used to forcibly clear encampments, displace, deport, and incarcerate L.A. County’s 75,000+ unhoused residents, and showcase a whitewashed version of Los Angeles to the world for a couple of weeks.

It’s no secret that the Olympics accelerate displacement and gentrification. We know that more than 77,000 people in Brazil were evicted from Rio’s favelas and other poor communities in the leadup to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, justified in part by an appeal to the necessity of Olympic-related development. And during last summer’s games in Paris, nearly 20,000 unhoused people, migrants, and sex workers were displaced, bussed out of the city, and sometimes deported to make way for the event.

Now, Trump is supercharging this forced displacement strategy with Los Angeles as his test case (although it’s unlikely it’ll stop here). Unfortunately for most of us, longtime Democratic donor Wasserman is more than happy to play along. According to the LA Times, “in recent months [Wasserman] has diversified his giving, with hefty donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership fund.”

As he opined at the podium, Trump remarked “L.A.’s a little bit different place than it was when selected…we’re gonna bring it back stronger than ever.” At this point, it’s hard to interpret that statement as anything other than a threat. 

It’s time to cancel the Olympics and fight for a city that makes space for everyone.

SAJE is a proud member of the NOlympics LA coalition, organizing to oppose the excessive harms of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games and other mega events. To learn more, visit NOlympicsLA.com