Two hockey teams, two gold medals, one presidential phone call

Kristoffer Tigue, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 23, 2026

Published in Olympics

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While President Donald Trump invited the men’s and women’s hockey teams to his State of the Union speech following gold medal victories against Canada, only one received a presidential phone call.

The men.

In a call to the boisterous men’s locker room Sunday, Trump praised the athletes for their dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over Canada.

“Unbelievable. You were all unbelievable,” Trump told the men’s hockey team during the phone call, which was facilitated through FBI Director Kash Patel.

“We’re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I can send a military plane or something. But if you would like to, it’s the coolest night, it’s the biggest speech,” Trump added.

Trump then said jokingly that he would also need to invite the women’s team or he “probably would be impeached.”

The U.S. women’s hockey team, who on Thursday also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime, declined the invitation later.

“We are sincerely grateful for the invitation,” a USA Hockey spokesperson told NBC News. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”

It’s unclear if that decision was influenced by the president’s differing treatment of the two teams.

Videos of Patel celebrating with the U.S. men’s hockey team Sunday show the FBI director chugging beer and spraying it around the locker room.

Patel’s presence at the Games drew renewed scrutiny from his critics, who have accused the federal official of misusing public dollars to support a lavish lifestyle, including using government planes for what they call vacation travel.

In November, he was also criticized for assigning SWAT teams to provide security detail for his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, an aspiring country singer.

The last time Team USA won gold for men’s hockey was 1980. The women’s team last won gold in 2018. The Milan Cortina Games marked the third gold medal for both the men’s and women’s teams.

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