Trump ignites culture war around U.S. hockey gold medal winners
The Champagne was still spraying in the locker room after Team USA clinched its first Olympic men’s hockey gold medal in almost five decades when President Donald Trump called into the celebration, kick-starting the nation’s latest culture war that has pitted some of the sport’s top stars against one another.
After it defeated Canada 2-1 on Sunday, when New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime, the group gathered in the locker room with FBI Director Kash Patel, who The Athletic reported was invited to the celebration by Team USA general manager Bill Guerin.
Amid the chaos, Patel whipped out his phone to call Trump, who invited the men’s team to the State of the Union address Tuesday.
Trump then joked that if he did not invite the women’s team — which also beat Team Canada in overtime to win the gold days before — “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
The men roared in laughter.
That moment captured on video has spurred outrage online, prompting a cascade of negativity toward the men’s team, members of which appeared quick to diss their female teammates to agree with Trump. (One player could be heard in the video saying “absolutely” when Trump said he had to invite the women, while another shouted “two-for-two,” acknowledging the men’s and women’s gold medal victories).
The episode has devolved into a heated back-and-forth online between fans who are disavowing the men for laughing at Trump’s remark and others who feel there is a rush to judgment amid a brief moment of unity for the country. Meanwhile, conservatives have lauded the players for making unabashedly patriotic statements after the win, talking up how proud they are to be American.
The controversy comes in a unique year for hockey, after the sport has garnered new fans through the Olympics and the popularity of “Heated Rivalry,” a hockey romance show centered on gay relationships. The NHL has embraced the show as part of a yearslong effort to expand the sport’s appeal.
The men’s hockey team attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address. In that speech, Trump said he will award U.S. men’s goalie Connor Hellebuyck the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Tuesday afternoon, many on the Olympic team were pictured outside the White House, gold medals around their necks, and later surrounding Trump in the Oval Office.
Trump called Hellebuyck, the goalie, his “secretary of defense” in a TikTok video filmed in the Oval Office with the team on Tuesday afternoon.
“Hegseth is not happy to hear this,” Trump joked, referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The women’s team, however, declined Trump’s invitation, with a spokesperson saying the team “deeply appreciate[s] the recognition of their extraordinary achievement” but could not attend because of previous commitments. The team also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Some members of the women’s team have liked Instagram posts critical of the men’s team’s response to Trump’s comment.)
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dominik Hašek, a Hall of Fame former NHL goalie who has been outspoken on a number of issues, including the war in Ukraine, lauded the women for rejecting Trump’s invitation.
“Yes, your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens,” Hašek, who is Czech, wrote on X. “Still, I believe you must have shown a great deal of heroism in making this decision. Thank you for that.”
As an alternative to the State of the Union, Public Enemy co-founder Flavor Flav invited the women’s team to Las Vegas for “a real celebration,” which he said would include “some nice dinners and shows and good times.” (He added that he’d be inviting the skeleton and bobsled teams, too.)
“We saw the story about the men’s invite to the White House, and the not quite invite for the women’s team,” Flavor Flav wrote in what he said was a “formal invitation” sent to the women’s hockey team.
“If there is an interest for the team to come to Las Vegas and celebrate with Flav — we will figure it out on our end and make it a lovely experience,” the invitation added.
It was not immediately clear whether the women had accepted Flavor Flav’s invitation.
Jack Hughes and his brother, Quinn Hughes, who emerged as the most recognizable names for Team USA throughout the Games, are now facing scrutiny for their reaction to Trump’s comments.
“We’re so proud to represent the U.S. and when you get the chance to go to White House and meet the president, we’re proud to be Americans and that’s so patriotic,” Jack Hughes told the Daily Mail on Monday. “No matter what your views are, we’re super excited to go to the White House tomorrow and be a part of that.”
Critical comments were made about the administration during the Games. Skier Hunter Hess said representing the U.S. is “a little hard” right now, considering “there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t.” In response, Trump called Hess “a real loser.”
The Hughes brothers also came under fire for laughing at Trump’s comment, as their mother, Ellen Hughes, is a famed women’s player and a consultant to the women’s team.
She told NBC’s “TODAY” show that double gold medals “says so much for USA hockey and where our sport is in this great country.”
Asked about the video of the men’s team talking to Trump, she said that “it’s all about the country” and that people from both sides of the aisle were celebrating the men’s and women’s gold medals.
“If you could see what we see from the inside, and the men and women sharing, you know, dorm rooms and halls and flex floors and the camaraderie and the synergy and the way the women cheered on the men and the way the men cheered on the women — that’s what it’s all about,” she said. “And the other things they cannot control. They care about humanity. They care about unity, and they care about the country.”
Despite the backlash, Jack Hughes told “TODAY” on Tuesday that the support he has received since scoring that golden goal has been incredible.
He added that when he scored the game-winning goal, he thought of Megan Keller, who scored a golden goal days before to win the women’s tournament. On Monday, Keller posted a photo on Instagram of the two athletes embracing with their gold medals.
“If there was a camera on me and Quinn when the women’s team won, we look like the biggest superfans of all time,” Hughes said. “We were just jumping up and down. We couldn’t believe it. … One of my first thoughts was her, and I am just so proud to join her as a gold medalist.”
