US team still planning for Olympics despite confusion

Members of the Trump administration surprised the U.S. Olympic Committee by suggesting the nation’s participation at the upcoming Pyeongchang Games in South Korea was “an open question,” and the USOC responded by saying it has no plans on pulling out.

The confusion began when U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, in response to a question in a Fox News interview, said “There’s an open question” about whether the U.S. team would travel to South Korea, where tensions have grown high after a series of missile tests in North Korea and inflammatory rhetoric between its leader, Kim Jongun, and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The USOC responded with a statement Thursday saying plans to compete in the Olympics, which run Feb. 9-25, hadn’t changed. Shortly after that, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters “no official decision has been made.”

She later clarified in a tweet, saying: “The U.S. looks forward to participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The protection of Americans is our top priority and we are engaged with the South Koreans and other partner nations to secure the venues.”

The USOC doesn’t receive federal funding, and technically, the official decision on participating belongs to the committee and the athletes themselves, all of whom would be guided by directives from the State Department, which has not issued any travel restrictions to South Korea.

The USOC is in frequent contact with the State Department, the organizing committee in South Korea and law enforcement about security issues in Korea and other places that members of the U.S. team travel.

“Each host city presents a unique challenge from a security perspective, and that is no different in this regard,” spokesman Mark Jones said. “We will continue to work with (authorities) to ensure that our athletes, and our entire delegation, are safe.”

In September, the USOC’s head of security, Nicole Deal, sent a letter to members of the U.S. delegation saying, “Despite current political tensions with North Korea, there is no specific information to suggest there are imminent threats to U.S. citizens or facilities in South Korea.”