WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following last week’s inaugural hearing for the Task Force on Enhancing Security for Special Events in the United States, Task Force Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) joined the Washington Times’ “Threat Status” podcast to sound the alarm on evolving threats that could impact upcoming mass-spectator events on U.S. soil, including the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the United States’ 250th anniversary, and the 2028 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. 

Chairman McCaul highlighted how nation-state adversaries and foreign terrorist organizations could use drones, vehicles, cyber, or other means to threaten these events and make a statement on the world stage. As America looks forward to welcoming millions of international visitors over the next four years, the Committee’s bipartisan task force is working to ensure federal agencies, state and local law enforcement, private-sector partners, and emergency managers are prepared to protect the public amid a heightened threat landscape. 

Read Chairman McCaul’s op-ed in the Washington Times, in which he outlines lessons from historical incidents at mass-gathering events and the urgency of the task force’s oversight mission. Read the Committee’s newest “Terror Threat Snapshot,” “China Threat Snapshot,” and “Cyber Threat Snapshot” to learn more about these evolving threats.

Listen to Chairman McCaul’s full interview with Ben Wolfgang and Guy Taylor.

Ben Wolfgang asked Chairman McCaul how to best prioritize public safety and national security while showcasing American exceptionalism on the world stage:

“This task force we just mentioned held a hearing focusing on lessons learned from past security incidents at major U.S. events and security measures the U.S. needs to take for upcoming major events. We’re talking about things, of course, like the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the World Cup next year, other sporting events, even the U.S. 250th anniversary celebrations next year… We, of course, live in a free and open society here in the U.S., and we want people from all over the world to come here for these events and experience the United States of America as that free and open society. So, big picture, how do you think we need to balance those two things? How do you hold these kinds of events in today’s environment safely and securely, while not having it take forever for folks to go through security checks and just generally making it unpleasant for both Americans and foreign visitors?”

Chairman McCaul responded, providing an overview of the past and present threats facing mass-spectator events:

“Technology, I think, goes a long way to making this easier and more simple, but you’re right. It’s a nuisance, probably, to some of the fans––although, I would say each of these events present a target for those who wish us harm, and we have to be prepared… I found over the years, both as a counterterrorism federal prosecutor [and] chairman of homeland is, first of all, you have to have the information, and you have to have the information shared. You have to have good intelligence on what the threats are and who are the threats. And then secondly, you have to have a way to rapidly respond to an immediate threat, to stop the killing of people. We know we’ve studied the 1972 Olympics, where Palestinians kidnapped Israelis––going to, recently, in New Orleans, the Sugar Bowl. I can go on and on with various sporting events where you’ve had a threat present itself. 

“Now, it can be a vehicle that you can block, you know, with various obstacles. You can have a handgun, but that’s probably going to be outside the perimeter, not inside. The thing that keeps coming up in our discussions, that [we] say ‘keeps you up at night’––that I think is going to be the biggest threat…are these drones, these unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that could cross over into a stadium with an explosive device. And our ability to take that out is very limited right now. I also got out of a briefing with a general at the Pentagon on this very issue. You saw what Ukraine was able to do in Russia, very effectively and not very expensive. It’s really the age of modern warfare, and it’s also going to be the age of modern threats in the United States. We have to be prepared to protect the American people and, in this case, the international travelers coming in.”

Wolfgang continued, asking about the broader terror threat landscape:

“Speaking of the threat landscape today, we’ve had a number of guests on this show over the past few months, or even a year now, talking about the environment in some ways being as dangerous as it has been since 9/11, the period leading up to that. The Homeland Security Committee has issued a few of his ‘Terror Snapshots,’ which I’ve written about, arguing that ‘the lights are blinking red,’ in terms of terror threats. So how would you characterize the threat level today, and if it really is reaching that kind of a peak, how did we allow it to happen?”

Chairman McCaul detailed how foreign terrorist groups have evolved in the wake of the Biden-Harris administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan and open-borders policies:

“When I chaired the Committee, it was basically the formation of ISIS and the caliphate, and we [saw] many external operations to kill Americans in the United States. Then you have the radicalization within the United States, you know, these sort of homegrown terrorists, they call them, which became an extension of that. Then we saw a downtick, I think, when the Trump administration went in and destroyed ISIS in Syria. I think the concern now is with the collapse of Afghanistan, [and] ISIS-K in Afghanistan… It has been reported that ISIS members have been arrested after getting into the United States; they were plotting to kill Americans. Just recently, we had 12 Iranians picked up in the United States that they were calling sleeper cells. I think you couple the downfall of Afghanistan, the unleashing of the prison systems of ISIS-K people coming out, and then a wide-open border––it was a prescription for a disaster and danger. I think that’s why you hear experts, like myself, say that the threat level has been heightened now.”

Wolfgang then asked about physical and cyber threats to U.S. critical infrastructure:

“We’re talking a lot about, drones or, God-forbid, firearms or bombs or things like that at public events. But how vulnerable is U.S. infrastructure today, from your point of view? We’re talking about cyberattacks, malware, these living-off-the-land attacks we’ve discussed before in the show, which could take down things like water systems, food supplies, agriculture, power generation across the country. We all know these are potential vulnerabilities––but do you think we’re headed in the right direction in shoring up those vulnerabilities?”

Chairman McCaul highlighted the importance of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) private-sector partnerships in mitigating cyberattacks from malicious nation-state actors:

“In cyber, you’ve got to stay one step ahead of the threat. It’s ever-evolving. I authorized and created into law the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity agency. They work with the NSA and the DOD; they are tasked with working with the private sector to share threat information, and you’re only as good as your private sector partners are at sharing that. Then the patches, you know, they can determine, ‘Okay, what is the threat itself? And then how can we advise the rest of the private sector to adequately protect themselves from a similar attack?’… But cyber is ever-evolving. China is very good at it. Iran is somewhat good at it. Russia, they don’t have our best interests at heart. An attack on Taiwan would be a massive cyberattack and potentially shut down the west coast of the United States. The NSA will step up in a time of warfare to defend the nation, [but] DHS provides threat information to the private sector. I do think [our defenses are] better than it was back then, but the cyber threat has become more dangerous, as well.”

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