President Donald Trump says he thinks he has helped the Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics but was unsure if his controversal travel restrictions might hurt the US bid.
Trump made his comments to the Westwood One Sports Radio Network on Sunday, noting that he had been asked to support the US bid and thought his talk to Olympic officials went well.
“The United States committee’s members have asked me to speak up about it and I have. And I think I’ve helped them,” Trump said. “And let’s see what happens. But I would be very happy and honored if they would choose Los Angeles and would stand behind it.”
Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles are the finalists for 2024, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) set to pick a winner in voting at Lima in September.
“I’ve actually spoken to the Olympic Committee in Europe. And they, I think, were very happy when they spoke to me,” Trump said.
“They wanted to have an endorsement from me and I gave it to them very loud and clear. I would love to see the Olympics go to Los Angeles. I think that it would be terrific.”
Asked if he thought the immigration ban involving seven majority-Muslim nations would cost the LA bid some votes with the IOC, Trump said that while he was unsure, national security was the top priority.
“Well, I don’t know, but regardless, we have to have security in our country,” Trump said. “We have to know who is coming into our country.
“We have to have people that are coming in with good intentions. If people are coming in with bad intentions, I want to be able to find out before they get here.
“And we want to have strong borders. And we want to have extreme vetting and we want to know what we’re doing, frankly.”