The United States women’s hockey team, which defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime on Thursday to claim gold at Milano Cortina 2026, declined president Donald Trump’s invite to visit the White House, citing scheduling issues.
“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said Monday.
“Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”
The men’s hockey team accepted the invite to the State of the Union address, which will take place on Tuesday, after they defeated Canada 2-1 - also in overtime - on Sunday.
Trump spoke to the men’s team through speaker phone via FBI Director Kash Patel, who was in the locker room at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, per video posted on X (formerly Twitter).
While speaking to the men’s team, Trump joked that he “probably would be impeached” if he did not invite the women’s team as well. One member of the men’s team was heard shouting ‘We’re in" in response to the invitation in the video, while others expressed concern about a blizzard in New York City that eventually forced the team to be re-routed to Miami.
“The nice thing about being president is I can tell you, you don’t have to worry about the weather or landing,” Trump said. “We don’t care if it’s snowing, or if it’s the worst blizzard, you’ll be sailing through that sucker just like you did on the ice today. We’ll do the White House the next day. We’ll just have some fun. We have medals for you guys.”
The NHL season is scheduled to resume on Wednesday, though it is not known whether all of them will be able to participate in the first game back with the busy schedule.
The PWHL season is set to resume on Thursday, and the women’s NCAA schedule continued throughout the Olympics.
