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The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering rewriting its rules to try barring President Donald Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending the LA Olympics in 2028 in a move that could also have implications for the World Cup being hosted by the U.S. this summer.

The proposal, on the agenda for next Tuesday’s meeting of the global drug-fighting watchdog’s executive committee, is the latest maneuver to come out of a yearslong refusal of the U.S. government to pay its annual dues to WADA. The refusal is part of the American government’s unanimous, bipartisan protest of the agency’s handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers and other issues.

The Associated Press learned of the agenda item through correspondence it obtained between WADA and European officials involved in the agency’s decision-making. Two others with knowledge of the agenda confirmed the existence of the rules proposal to AP; they were not authorized to speak publicly about the agenda, which has not been released publicly.

WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald said “there is nothing new here,” noting that discussions related to the issue of what to do about governments withholding funding have been ongoing since 2020 and aren’t directly related to the U.S.

The proposal was, in fact, first brought up in 2024, when U.S. authorities successfully lobbied for its rejection. The U.S. has since lost its seat on the executive committee.

“In spite of WADA’s increasing threats, we continue to stand firm in our demand for accountability and transparency from WADA to ensure fair competition in sport,” said Sara Carter, the director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The rule, if passed, would figure to be mostly symbolic, given the limits an international sports federation could have on the president of a country attending an event inside his own borders.

“I have never heard of a $50-million-budget Swiss foundation being able to enforce a rule to, for example, prevent the United States president from going anywhere,” said Carter’s predecessor at ONDCP, Rahul Gupta, who was on the WADA executive committee two years ago and led the movement to reject the proposal. “And the next question you have to ask is: How are you going to enforce it? Are they going to post a red notice from Interpol? It’s ludicrous. It’s clear they have not thought this through.”

In a news release after this story published, WADA said the AP story was “entirely misleading,” focusing on Fitzgerald’s statement to the AP that if proposals being discussed were “introduced, given that the rules would not apply retroactively, the FIFA World Cup, LA and Salt Lake City Games (in 2034) would not be covered.”

Fitzgerald’s only answer to three emails from AP seeking clarification on his initial response — specifically about how a rule that had not yet been adopted could or couldn’t be applied retroactively on events that are scheduled for the future — was: “I’m trying to say that it would not apply retroactively so those events would not be covered. Given that and the next meeting of the Board being scheduled for November, I don’t see how it could come into play for this year’s World Cup.”

WADA suggests it could move quickly, but impact on upcoming World Cup hazy

The next meeting of the Foundation Board, which would make the ultimate decision, isn’t scheduled until November. But a WADA response last month to a question about potential timing of the rule’s passage from the European authorities said: “The proposal could be implemented without undue delay. If necessary, the Foundation Board could consider the proposal by circular or within the context of an extraordinary meeting.”

According to a draft of the proposal, the rule would apply to governments that have not paid dues by Jan. 31 of the year after they’re billed. The U.S. hasn’t paid its WADA dues since 2023. There was no mention of “retroactivity” or lack thereof in the document the executives are considering.

The proposal calls for a three-tiered set of sanctions for countries that don’t pay dues. In the U.S. case, that amounts to around $3.7 million from last year, plus $3.6 million it didn’t pay in 2024. Among the most extreme sanctions include “government representatives being excluded from participation in major events such as World Championships and Olympic & Paralympic Games.”

That would include Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and members of Congress, who recently approved hundreds of millions in funding for security and other logistics for the World Cup and LA Games.

Representatives from the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee did not respond to emails from AP seeking comment on how a ban on Trump and other U.S. officials might be enforced.

US has been asking WADA to undergo independent audits

WADA’s budget was pegged at $57.5 million for 2025. It receives half its funding from the IOC and the other half from governments across the globe. Contributions from the governments are loosely based on the size of their athletic teams, and the U.S. has always paid one of the biggest bills.

This squabble has been festering since the first Trump administration, rooted in America’s distrust of the global anti-doping system, which came under international scrutiny first for its handling of a Russian doping scandal dating to before the Sochi Games in Russia in 2014.

Then, in 2024, news came of 23 Chinese swimmers — some of them on the team that went to the Paris Olympics — who were allowed to compete despite testing positive. WADA accepted the Chinese doping regulator’s theory that the athletes had been contaminated by traces of banned heart medication in a hotel kitchen.

The ONDCP and Congress under both the Trump and Biden administrations have withheld the payments to WADA.

In the most recent flare-up, the government restricted payment until WADA subjected itself to an independent audit. WADA defended its auditing practices and, at the Milan Cortina Games last month, once again called on the U.S. to pay the dues.

Now, the agency looks for more leverage in its attempts to collect.

“This initiative is aimed at better protecting WADA’s funding so that it can deliver on its mission to protect clean sport,” said Fitzgerald, the spokesman for WADA. “If WADA’s funding is cut, it is ultimately athletes who will suffer. Indeed, athletes (including those on WADA’s Executive Committee and Foundation Board) have continuously expressed their support for this initiative.”

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Associated Press reporter Darlene Superville contributed from Washington.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Pete Hegseth has used a press conference at the Pentagon to criticize journalists over their coverage of the war in Iran, at one point proposing alternative TV headlines.

The US defense secretary claimed Iran had been left without a functioning air force, navy or missile defense network after 13 days of strikes, and said the combined US-Israeli air campaign had hit more than 15,000 targets since the war began.

“What should the banner [on TV] read?” he said. “How about ‘Iran increasingly desperate’?”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has warned that Iran could be hit hard in the coming days, as the US president described the leaders of the Iranian regime as “deranged scumbags”.

Here are the key stories at a glance.

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Pete Hegseth on Friday again claimed the US military campaign against Iran has been an unprecedented success, using a Pentagon press conference to accuse journalists of downplaying Washington’s supposed gains on the battlefield.

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Trump calls Iran leaders ‘deranged scumbags’ as Middle East violence spirals

Donald Trump has said Iran will be hit “very hard” in the coming days, describing leaders of the regime as “deranged scumbags” who it was a “great honor” to kill, as Tehran residents reported relentless bombing and violence continued to spiral across the Middle East.

The US president’s comments, which signaled an intensification of the US-Israeli campaign, came as Israeli and US warplanes launched successive waves of attacks on the Iranian capital and elsewhere on Friday.

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ICE agents reveal daily arrest quotas and surveillance app in rare court testimony

US immigration agents in Oregon used a custom-made app to identify neighborhoods and people to target, and had daily arrest quotas they sought to meet during operations, courtroom testimony has revealed.

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Judge orders ICE to release Minneapolis man after 50 days of unlawful detention

A federal judge ruled on Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must release a Minneapolis man and asylum seeker who has been unlawfully detained for 50 days.

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Seven in 10 Americans say Trump’s tariffs caused higher prices

Seven in 10 Americans say Donald Trump’s tariffs have led to them paying higher prices, according to an exclusive new poll for the Guardian. The Harris Poll survey presents Republicans with a major problem in the battle for the upcoming midterm elections. The majority of all voters (72%) believe Trump’s tariffs have had a negative rather than a positive impact and 67% said tariffs aren’t the right solution for improving the economy.

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US airports ask for donations for unpaid TSA staff

A rising number of US airports are asking for donations to support employees affected by the partial government shutdown with airport security officials missing their first full paychecks Friday. Transportation Security Administration employees have been working in airports around the US without pay since a shutdown began in February after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a funding agreement.

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Judge blocks justice department from subpoenaing Fed chair Jerome Powell

A federal judge on Friday blocked the justice department from serving subpoenas to the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, in an inquiry purported to be about the management of the central bank’s renovation.

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Catching up? Here’s what happened Thursday 12 March.