International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, according to multiple reports.
The New York Times first reported news of the meeting, and ESPN said some or all of the United States’ IOC members, Anita DeFrantz, Larry Probst and Angela Ruggiero, will also be in attendance.
Bach was in New York on Wednesday for the IOC’s announcement of a new corporate sponsorship with Intel.
The discussion at the White House is expected to center on Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Trump has said since his election that he fully supports the LA 2024 effort.
Los Angeles is vying with Paris for the 2024 bid, but Bach has spearheaded an attempt to change the IOC’s longstanding procedures and award the next two Summer Olympics this year. Paris has said it is only able to host in 2024, and reports in recent weeks have suggested Los Angeles is likely to end up with the 2028 Games instead.
In a telephone interview at the end of 2016 – following his election but prior to his inauguration – Trump gave IOC president Thomas Bach a “very loud and clear” endorsement for the California city to host the games.
“I would love to see the Olympics go to Los Angeles. I think that it would be terrific,” Trump also said.
Los Angeles, which put on the Summer Games in 1932 and 1984, is in the running against Paris to host the 2024 event.
The United States last hosted the Summer Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. It has failed twice recently to win a hosting bid – for the 2012 Games in New York, and the 2016 event in Chicago.
The IOC is slated to vote in July on whether to award hosting rights to both cities for the 2024 and 2028 games.
The IOC membership will vote on that potential voting change next month and award at least the 2024 Olympics, if not 2028 as well, on Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.
