Olympics chief admits she has not spoken to US president Trump about LA 2028 Games | LA Olympic Games 2028

The International Olympic Committee has yet to establish formal communications with the US president Donald Trump on preparations for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, the IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, has confirmed.

Trump has been speaking in Davos in Switzerland after a turbulent start to 2026 during which he has suggested he will invade Greenland, threatened a trade war with Europe and ousted the Venezuela president Nicolás Maduro.

Coventry confirmed that she had no plans to meet Trump amid rising global tensions before the 2028 Olympics, which are expected to bring together more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 nations, and said she did not want to get involved with geopolitics.

“We are always aware of all the conversations that are happening and the geopolitics and political conversations happening,” said Coventry on Wednesday. “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.”

However, Coventry does expect to meet the US vice-president, JD Vance, before the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics on 6 February.

“As it pertains to the USA, we have not had formal communication just yet with the White House,” she added. “We have seen the formal announcement of president Trump’s team. We look forward to meeting the vice-president.”

But at a press conference in Lausanne, Coventry did stress Olympic values and spoke of countries coming together in harmony – which sounded like a quiet rebuke to the US administration.

“We will work extremely hard in order to protect the Olympic Games and the platform for the Olympic Games,” she said. “Because it showcases how we can live and a way of understanding each other. You don’t have to speak the same language in order to understand what each other is trying to achieve, or have an appreciation for each other. And for me, especially in today’s world, these are values that we need to ensure we are protecting.”

The US is also co-hosting the World Cup this year, with Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa, having repeatedly met with Trump at the White House and controversially awarded him a peace prize in December.

Asked whether she could learn from Infantino’s approach, Coventry responded: “If we weren’t seeing good relations six months before the World Cup I would get worried. As we get closer to the Olympics you will see the relations continue … and only get stronger.”

Meanwhile, the Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi admitted there was still some work to be done on the sliding track in Cortina, as well as on the concourse and the temporary works in the ice hockey arena. However, he insisted that all venues for the Winter Olympics would be ready in time.

“With sliding, we cannot deny that work needs to be done,” said Dubi. “For the hockey, the works inside the concourse and the temporary works which by nature are last minute, will be ready in a matter of days. But they are still working. There is a lot of confidence and workers on the ground. So we’ll be ready to host the best athletes.”