INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — The 2026 FIFA World Cup opened a years-long run of major international sporting events in the United States, which provided officials with visa and security experience and federal partnerships to build on for the 2028 Summer Olympics, White House Task Force Executive Director Andrew H. Giuliani told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview.
Giuliani spoke with Breitbart News in Indianapolis following an event featuring HUD Secretary Scott Turner, where officials from the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor joined the NFL to announce a memorandum of understanding focused on youth academic participation, healthy living, and workforce development in underserved communities.
Asked about the task force’s biggest success, Giuliani told Breitbart News, “Over the last month and a half, Americans fell in love with the World Cup, but really, it was the world that fell in love with America again.”
“When you think about the president’s vision back in 2018, in the 45th presidency, to land this World Cup, he understood that there was this unbelievable opportunity during our 250th birthday to take a platform like the World Cup [and] be able to show the world what Americans’ freedoms mean,” Giuliani said.
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“You know how he always talks about America First is not America only,” he continued. “Well, that was on display the last six weeks. The rest of the world got to see our freedoms.”
Giuliani added, “What we believe is if the rest of the world can take a little bit of that freedom back with them, how much better would this world be? It’s why American exceptionalism is real, and it’s why it affects everybody from all around the world.”
Asked how the tournament positioned the United States for the 2028 Olympics, Giuliani said, “From a cultural perspective, this was just the start of this golden age of sports here in the United States of America.”
He also pointed to the 2031 Women’s World Cup, upcoming rugby and cricket World Cups, and the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, adding, “From a cultural perspective, it’s just the beginning. As the president says, the best is yet to come.”
“From a mechanical perspective, I would look at the visa process, what we were able to do to make sure bad actors did not get in the United States of America,” Giuliani said.
He said officials worked to ensure that visitors could “spend their discretionary income” and that World Cup fans “were able to access the country.”
“That might not be as heavy of a lift for the Olympics,” Giuliani said, “but I can tell you for players and athletes, they’re going to have 15 times the amount of athletes from over 200 different countries.”
“So this will really build off of that from there,” he added.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner (L) and White House Task Force Executive Director Andrew H. Giuliani pose at an event in Indianapolis, Indiana. (HUD)
Giuliani also pointed to the security challenges surrounding the Olympics, saying the event would occur amid presidential political activity and two party conventions, creating “a real big lift for the U.S. Secret Service.”
“They’re going to have to continue to build off of the partnerships that we formed here on the White House task force for the World Cup,” Giuliani said.
Giuliani said he was “very excited in a couple years to be able to look at the success of the White House task force and the World Cup and see the White House task force on the Olympics even surpass that.”
Giuliani also reflected on attending the 1994 World Cup as an eight-year-old.
“I remember going to a couple of matches in the Meadowlands, and I think it really did instruct me in terms of the way to do this World Cup,” he said.
“So much of my focus was on the safety, security, the visa process, transportation, getting people around,” Giuliani said.
He then credited administration officials involved in the effort, offering “kudos to Secretary Mullin, FBI Director Patel, AAG Blanche, Secretary Duffy, Secretary Rubio’s work, and Assistant Secretary Namdar.”
“But I knew that if we could do all that work behind the scenes, kind of behind the cooking, if you will, then we would give people the opportunity to be able to view this game the way an eight-year-old would be able to view the game,” Giuliani said.
“And that really was a beautiful thing,” he continued. “Great to see the magic actually happen after all the long hours, the long days, months, years put into this.”
“Remember, this team did this throughout two government shutdowns, which lasted over 100 days,” Giuliani said. “What an incredible group of public servants that really came in mission first, dedicated to making this incredible event a crown jewel of the golden age.”
Giuliani first volunteered for Trump’s 2016 campaign and later served in the White House as associate director of the Office of Public Liaison from 2017 to 2019 and special assistant to the president from 2019 to 2021. He served as a Trump campaign surrogate in 2024 before the president appointed him in May 2025 to lead federal preparations for the World Cup. Under his leadership, the task force secured $500 million for the 11 U.S. host cities’ security preparations, advanced counter-unmanned aircraft capabilities, and championed the Safer Skies Act to empower law enforcement to respond to drone threats.
The tournament concluded Sunday with Spain defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time to claim its second men’s World Cup championship. Spain never trailed during the tournament, extended its unbeaten streak to 38 matches, and did not concede more than one goal in any game. Following the final, President Donald Trump joined FIFA President Giovanni Infantino on the field to present Spain with its medals and trophy before calling for the United States to host the tournament again. “Based on the numbers, we will be requesting it again immediately,” Trump said, later adding, “We have to do this again.”