February 22nd
President Donald Trump calls the Team USA men’s program in their locker room after their gold medal overtime win. He invites the team to the State of the Union address slated for Tuesday, February 24th. Trump then says, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team.” He then adds, chuckling, that if the women’s team were not invited, “I do believe I’d probably would be impeached.” The room erupted with laughter.
February 23nd
- The comments made by the President and subsequent laughter were met with immediate backlash on social media outlets. Jack Hughes, who scored the overtime winner, commented, “People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing.” While others online argued the President’s comment was a clear disrespectful dig at the women’s players.
- Team USA women’s program publicly declines White House invitation, stating the teams’ gratitude for the invitation but the players would be unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts.
February 24th
- Ellen Hughes, who has been a player development consultant for the women’s national team since 2023 and is the mother of Jack and Quinn Hughes on the men’s Olympic team, was the first woman to comment publicly on the backlash. She says, “at the end of the day, it’s just about the country,” and stresses the camaraderie and respect both teams have for each other. She concludes with, “They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country.”
- The majority of the men’s Olympic team arrived at the White House and made an appearance at President Trump’s State of the Union Address.
- Rapper Flavor Flav invites the Team USA women’s players to a celebration weekend in Las Vegas, prompting several notable brands to join in offering perks, discounts or even free products and amenities.
February 25th
- Team USA women’s captain, Hilary Knight, shared her thoughts with ESPN yesterday saying, “I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success, the success of just women at the Olympics carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats.” The Seattle Torrent held a press conference where Knight and her fellow Torrent and Olympic teammates Alex Carpenter, Hannah Bilka, and Cayla Barnes commented on the incident once more. See our full breakdown of that press conference along with the players’ quotes.
Most importantly, Knight reiterates that she wants to focus the spotlight back on the amazing women on her team and continue celebrating their dominant and historical win at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
