ICE

A fan walks through rows and rows of empty seats at the Rose Bowl stadium as soccer players take the field

FIFA

Empty stadiums, travel bans, and ICE raids

"If you want to come to the U.S. games, just know that they may harass you depending where you're from and depending on what you look like"

Alissa Walker Jul 1, 2025

A green bus bench with graffiti reading "due process" on a busy LA street in the Koreatown neighborhood

Public safety

Travel advisory

Sean Duffy's feigned hand-wringing on behalf of one federal department about the inconvenience of rerouting a few buses is simply revolting as another federal department is literally kidnapping people from bus stops

Alissa Walker Jun 28, 2025

A screen grab of Trump in front of an Olympic-branded screen with the caption "We got the Olympics to come to Los Angeles"

Transition team

They were always Trump's games

In case anyone forgot this fact, LA28 representatives repeatedly reminded everyone about their close working relationship with the president-elect

Alissa Walker Nov 15, 2024

A handout showing Trump at a podium and a stadium with the Olympic rings, with a meeting happening behind

Policing the games

"Everyone was excited because the Olympics were coming. Now everyone is worried"

On Election Day, everything changed

Alissa Walker Nov 8, 2024

Empty stadiums, travel bans, and ICE raids

Travel advisory

Torched Talks with sports politics scholar Jules Boykoff

Empty stadiums, travel bans, and ICE raids

Travel advisory

They were always Trump's games

"Everyone was excited because the Olympics were coming. Now everyone is worried"