Los Angeles 2028 Olympics: A Billion Dollars from Trump

A thousand million to invest in a thousand days. With the budget law – the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – the Trump administration has approved funding of one billion dollars for the Olympic Games, to be held in Los Angeles starting July 14, 2028. Thanks to this enormous investment, the United States is preparing to host the world’s largest sporting event by providing modern and cutting-edge infrastructure and facilities.

Los Angeles 2028 will bring significant benefits to the regional economy. A study from the University of California, Riverside, published in 2017 by the Los Angeles Times newspaper at the time of the bid for the games, estimated an economic impact of 11 billion dollars, with the creation of 79,000 full-time jobs.

A thousand days before the Summer Olympics begin, the city administration believes that estimate to be more valid than ever—if not an underestimate.

The California metropolis, still undergoing reconstruction after the devastating fires of last January, will increasingly become an open-air construction site in preparation for the grand sporting event. Planned developments include new infrastructure, upgrades to existing ones and improvements in transportation and public safety.

It is precisely with regard to this last aspect—namely “safety, planning, and other costs”—that the budget law has justified the funding.

Among the initiatives planned are the “Twenty-Eight by ’28” proposed by LA Metro, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which include 28 transformative public transport projects.

To implement them, the Authority’s engineers are redesigning routes, introducing new transportation services, and planning facilities tailored for the Olympics but aimed at creating lasting benefits. The estimated cost, published by LA Metro on its official channels, is 20 billion dollars for 28 projects—29% of which are completed, 28% are under construction, 25% still need to be planned, and 18% in the design phase.

Metro’s challenge is to provide high-quality public transport service for a projected increase of one million daily trips.

This will be the third time, after the 1932 and 1984 editions, that Los Angeles hosts the Summer Olympics. But at that time, there were no railway lines, suburban train lines, or bus-only lanes, which now cover most of the vast urban sprawl that the city has become.

The local administration is working to make this edition of the Olympic Games car-free, offering access to around 800 events solely via public transport, with over 50 Olympic and Paralympic sports and 15,000 athletes involved.

Among LA Metro’s most important projects is the extension of the Purple Line metro rail, which will connect the borders of Santa Monica with Westwood, Beverly Hills, Miracle Mile, Windsor Square, and Wilshire Center. Work will also include the connection between L.A.’s main airport and the city itself, along with the extension of the Gold Line and other lines aimed at speeding up bus transportation services.

Los Angeles is experiencing a significant influx of investment in transportation infrastructure improvements and other projects, even if some were not created specifically for the  Olympics or are not directly linked to the main event sites.

Among the projects already under construction, there are at least 10 valued at over 500 billion dollars, including the expansion of the I-10 Corridor, which serves an average of 265,000 daily commuters.

Lane Construction, a U.S. subsidary of the Webuild Group, is designing and building 11 miles of two dedicated lanes in both directions along the Interstate I-10 Corridor, from the border between Los Angeles and San Bernardino County to east of the I-10/I-15 Interchange. The improvement works will also include the replacement of eight bridges—thus increasing capacity—and 23,700 meters of a new drainage system.