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≡ THE BIG PICTURE ≡
Projections that Donald Trump won the U.S. Presidential election on Tuesday will not only return him to The White House, but also positions him to open the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in Los Angeles in 2028.
There have been eight prior Olympic and Winter Games in the U.S. – no country has hosted more – with a sitting U.S. President not opening any of them until Ronald Reagan in 1984, also in Los Angeles.
Two future Presidents opened the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid (Franklin Roosevelt), and the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley (Richard Nixon; the site is now known as Palisades Tahoe).
The list of those who have declared the eight U.S. Games open includes:
Olympic Games:
● 1904 St. Louis: Louisiana Purchase Exposition President David Francis
● 1932 Los Angeles: U.S. Vice President Charles Curtis
● 1984 Los Angeles: U.S. President Ronald Reagan
● 1996 Atlanta: U.S. President Bill Clinton
Olympic Winter Games:
● 1932 Lake Placid: New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt
● 1960 Squaw Valley: U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon
● 1980 Lake Placid: U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale
● 2002 Salt Lake City: U.S. President George W. Bush
Trump was President from 2017 to 2021, then lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election, and will become the first man to serve non-consecutive terms as U.S. President since Grover Cleveland from 1885-89 and 1893-97.
With the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada, Mexico and the U.S., Trump also had a friendly relationship with FIFA chief Gianni Infantino (SUI) during his first term, and will likely have some ceremonial role in that event.
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