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Trump’s ‘America First’ may leave bids behind

Donald Trump’s desire to drastically reshape American foreign policy could damage the nation’s hopes of landing the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, some experts say.

Historically speaking, politicians don’t usually play a decisive role in bids to land mega-sports events. But Trump is so unconventional on international affairs — and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton so conventional — that a Trump administration could pose a threat to a successful bid, said Nick Wright, global research and campaigns director for Luntz Global, a communications firm founded by Republican political strategist Frank Luntz.

Trump’s “America First” rhetoric has proposed to take a more aggressive posture in trade with China, alter NAFTA and NATO agreements, build a Mexican border wall and ban Muslims from entering the country, though he has moderated that claim in recent weeks.

Casey Wasserman, LA 2024 co-chairman, has strong ties to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
That contrasts starkly with Clinton, who developed personal relationships with dozens of national leaders in four years as U.S. secretary of state and speaks of strengthening alliances and finding new partners.

Aside from any specific policy or alliance, Wright said, the International Olympic Committee and FIFA are big believers in the virtue of cross-border cooperation and would be turned off by isolationism.

“If nothing else, Hillary is an internationalist,” Wright said. “She stands for multiculturalism and inclusion. That’s the starkest dividing line between Hillary and Trump.”

You only have to look at multinational corporations’ unwillingness to sponsor the Republican National Convention, Wright said, to see how Olympic executives and business partners might react to a Trump presidency. Wells Fargo, Ford Motor Co., Walgreens, JPMorgan Chase, UPS, Motorola Solutions, HP and Apple all sponsored the 2012 Republican National Convention but did not this year, according to various reports.

“That speaks to an unease about the direction that may follow a Trump presidency,” Wright said.

An American might find it a bit outrageous for the IOC or FIFA to hold a democratically elected president against the U.S., considering they’ve awarded Olympics and World Cups to autocratic regimes in China, Russia and Qatar. But there’s a strong anti-American sentiment within the IOC and FIFA, exacerbated by the U.S.-led criminal investigation into FIFA, and Trump’s foreign policy views likely won’t help that.

Some voters may see Trump’s politics as a pretext to act on that sentiment, Wright said.

“[Trump] would give cover to anti-American sentiment in a way Obama or to a lesser extent Hillary wouldn’t,” Wright said.

The IOC vote on the 2024 Olympics will take place in Lima, Peru, in September 2017, which would be nine months into any new administration. Paris is seen as Los Angeles’ main competition.

Los Angeles 2024 has secured formal support from members of both parties at local, state and national levels. The bid is co-chaired by Mayor Eric Garcetti and Casey Wasserman, both Democrats with ties to the Clintons (Wasserman is especially close to the Clintons), but the bid is run by CEO Gene Sykes, an active Republican donor.

“LA 2024 leaders maintain strong relationships with leaders in both parties and will meet with the president-elect’s transition team after the election,” spokesman Jeff Millman said. “We are confident that our bid will continue receiving strong federal support after the election, regardless of the outcome.”

Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks on the investigation of FIFA.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
Having said that, the Los Angeles bid’s campaign has emphasized the cosmopolitan, diverse and welcoming nature of Southern California, clearly seeing those as winning themes with the IOC.

The U.S. Soccer Federation is considered a strong contender for the 2026 World Cup. While it had no comment for this story, USSF President Sunil Gulati said in June that “the world’s perception of the U.S. is affected by who is in the White House,” according to USA Today. “I think having somebody in the White House that gives the country an outward-looking view and a personality that is more easily accepted around the world is positive for (America) and then more specifically for hosting events here — and for our general image from a sports perspective.”

David Downs, former executive director of the failed 2022 World Cup bid, said Clinton wouldn’t necessarily add to the American chances, but she would not alter the country’s essential dynamic with the rest of the world.

“I don’t want to say I know enough about Trump’s intended foreign policy or administration, or his attitude toward hosting events, to know if it won’t be a good thing,” Downs said. “But I suspect the Clinton administration, if that’s what it’s going to be, would be very similar to an Obama administration.”

Of course, an internationally popular president is no guarantee. Obama appeared in front of the IOC as part of Chicago’s final presentation in 2009 only to have his hometown finish fourth in Olympic bidding, and the World Cup bid also failed under his watch.

The candidates have said little specifically about the Olympics or the World Cup, and neither campaign responded to requests for this article. Clinton appeared with then-President Bill Clinton to open the Atlanta Games in 1996, and in 2005 traveled to an IOC meeting in Singapore to support New York City’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games while serving as a senator. The New York bid also finished fourth in IOC voting.

Harvey Schiller, who served as executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1994, said Trump spoke highly of the Olympics during a few meetings in the company of mutual friend George Steinbrenner.

“In terms of presidential politics, I’m not sure it matters either way” who wins, Schiller said, later adding: “My guess is, it’s in the interest of every president to get the Games.”

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