In early August, Trump signed an executive order creating a White House Olympics task force. He put himself in charge and stacked it with allies like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Vice President J.D. Vance.
Donald Trump isn’t coming to California to hand out medals. He’s coming to stage a power grab. The 2028 Olympics are just the excuse.
California has spent years resisting MAGA federal overreach, protecting immigrants, challenging ICE, and pushing back on culture war policies. Trump sees that resistance as a challenge to crush. And the Olympics give him cover to send in federal forces, set up surveillance, and call it “security.” Once he’s in, don’t expect him to leave.
On paper, it’s about coordination—venues, transportation, and visas. In practice, it opens the door for ICE, DHS, and the Secret Service to operate freely in California under a permanent national spotlight.
Trump has never liked that California runs its own playbook. Now he has a reason to walk in the front door and take over.
Federal Forces Framed as Security
This is how it starts.
ICE and DHS set up in Olympic zones. There are visible checkpoints, behavior scanners, surveillance towers. Facial recognition systems that were supposed to be temporary could stay behind. Protesters, journalists, and even athletes could be detained under vague rules that prioritize “order” over rights.
These aren’t guesses. They’re patterns we’ve seen before. When federal agents deployed in Portland during protests, they didn’t coordinate with local leaders. They escalated. Once they were in place, they didn’t leave.
Now it’s California’s turn.
A Stage for Spectacle, Not Sport
Trump doesn’t just want to oversee the Games. He wants to star in them.
Imagine the optics: Trump reviewing troops at Olympic venues. Trump giving medal speeches. Trump framed as the man who “kept the Games safe.” Meanwhile, dissent is sanitized out of the picture, and corporate sponsors like NBC, Visa, and Airbnb help enforce the rules without questioning the politics.
Athletes will be expected to perform patriotism. Protests will be pushed out of sight. Surveillance will be dressed up as public safety.
And all of it will look perfectly normal on TV.
The Blueprint Isn’t New But the Stakes Are
Host nations have used the Olympics for authoritarian image-building before. Beijing in 2008. Sochi in 2014. We’ve seen these Games used to suppress dissent and install long-term surveillance.
Now the U.S. is following that script, and it’s happening in California.
Once the structures are built (surveillance, interagency coordination, ICE presence) they won’t get dismantled. The Olympics become the excuse for a permanent shift in how we live with power.
This is how authoritarianism settles in. Not with a bang, but with a broadcast.
Congress Won’t Help. That’s the Point.
The GOP controls Congress. There won’t be oversight hearings or subpoenas. Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson have no interest in transparency.
So what happens now?
We organize. We document. We shine a light before the stage is fully built.
• Individuals must document what they notice and alert friends, family, and neighbors.
• Civil liberties groups must monitor and report what’s being put in place now.
• Journalists must be on high alert, long before the opening ceremony.
• Consumers must pressure sponsors to pick a side. It’s either complicity or accountability.
• Athletes, international federations, and allies must speak up before it’s too late.
When the Torch Lights Up, So Will the Truth
Trump doesn’t care about medals. He cares about control.
The 2028 Olympics will be framed as a celebration of unity. But if we look closer, we’ll see what’s really happening. Federal enforcement setting up shop in California under the Olympic banner and a state known for resistance will be forced into silence.
The flame will be lit. The world will be watching.
What matters is whether we choose to see what’s being done behind the scenes or whether we let the show go on.
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California will beat the tar-hades out of MAGA.
The only way MAGA takes California is by going scorched earth, which would destroy the world’s 5th largest economy.
And that would sink the US economy forever.
The end of the USA.
But hey, if you look at it from Trump’s point of view, it may, just maybe, get people to stop talking about how he likes to rape children.