NEED TO KNOW

• US women’s hockey team declined Trump’s State of the Union invitation, citing PWHL schedule and academic commitments
• Trump told the men’s team he’d “probably be impeached” if he didn’t also invite the women — who won gold three days earlier
• FBI Director Kash Patel facilitated the men’s locker room call while facing criticism for using government aircraft to attend the Olympics

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — The gold medal-winning US women’s hockey team declined President Donald Trump‘s invitation to attend Tuesday’s State of the Union address, citing prior professional and academic commitments — a decision that landed in the middle of a growing political firestorm over how the administration celebrated the two Olympic hockey teams that delivered identical results in Milan.

USA Hockey confirmed the decision in a statement provided to NBC News, saying the team was grateful for the recognition but that previously scheduled obligations made attendance impossible. The women’s team won its third Olympic gold medal on Feb. 19 with a 2-1 overtime victory over Canada — the exact same score the men achieved three days later.

How Trump’s Invitation Unfolded

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The sequence of events matters. After the men’s team defeated Canada on Sunday, FBI Director Kash Patel — who was already in the locker room celebrating — patched Trump in by speakerphone. The president congratulated the players, offered to send a military plane to bring them to Washington and invited them to Tuesday’s speech.

Then came the women’s team.

“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that. I do believe I probably would be impeached.” — Donald Trump

The locker room laughed. The remark — captured on video shared by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino — went viral within hours.

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Critics noted the contrast: Trump made three separate Truth Social posts celebrating the men’s victory and shared an AI-generated video created by Grok depicting himself scoring goals against Canada while wearing a suit. There was no comparable congratulatory post or phone call for the women’s team, whose gold medal game broke the all-time viewership record for women’s hockey.

“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. Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.” — USA Hockey spokesperson

The Scheduling Question Is Legitimate — For Both Teams

Here’s what much of the coverage has glossed over: the scheduling conflict is real, and it applies to both squads.

Sixteen of the women’s Olympic players compete in the Professional Women’s Hockey League, which paused its season for the Olympics and resumes play Thursday, Feb. 26. The men’s team faces identical pressure — the NHL season resumes Wednesday, and players were still in transit from Milan. Several women on the roster also have college hockey commitments they returned to immediately.

The men’s team accepted Trump’s invitation during the locker room call — one player shouted “we’re in” — but whether they’ll actually attend remains unclear. According to the Boston Globe, the team’s flight was rerouted to Miami due to a blizzard battering the Northeast, adding further logistical complications.

Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday that House officials are scrambling to accommodate a possible appearance by both teams.

“There’s no way to have special guests on the floor because it’s a literal session of Congress. But we’re going to work and do what we can to accommodate.” — Mike Johnson

The Women’s Sports Contradiction

The optics collide with one of the administration’s signature cultural positions. Trump has repeatedly positioned himself as the defender of women’s sports, signing executive orders restricting transgender athlete participation and framing it as protecting competitive fairness for female athletes.

Yet when the nation’s women’s hockey team delivered the same result as the men’s team — a 2-1 overtime gold medal victory over Canada — the presidential response was markedly different. No congratulatory phone call. No dedicated social media celebration. And an invitation framed as something he’d be “forced” to extend.

“Women’s sports will always be a punchline to them no matter how much phony lip service they pay.” — Social media user, cited by multiple outlets

Defenders of Trump argue the comment was lighthearted locker room banter that’s been overblown. The men had just won America’s first Olympic hockey gold since 1980 — a genuinely historic moment — and the president was celebrating with them in real time. The women’s gold came three days earlier when the logistics of a phone call and invitation were different.

The Daily Beast reported that this isn’t the first time women’s championship teams went uncelebrated during a Trump presidency. During his first term, the Minnesota Lynx (2017 WNBA champions), Seattle Storm (2018 WNBA champions) and Notre Dame women’s basketball (2018 NCAA champions) received no White House invitations. It wasn’t until April 2019 that the Baylor Lady Bears became the first women’s team to make a solo White House visit under Trump.

The Patel Subplot

Layered beneath the invitation controversy is the role played by Kash Patel, whose presence at the Olympics drew its own firestorm.

The FBI director — a lifelong hockey fan who coached high school hockey in Washington from 2017 to 2018 — flew to Milan on an FBI Gulfstream jet at an estimated cost of $75,000 to taxpayers, according to MSNBC. The FBI said the trip was for official security meetings planned months in advance.

Videos showed Patel chugging beer, having a gold medal draped around his neck by Matthew Tkachuk and singing along to a Toby Keith song. Current and former FBI officials expressed dismay at the footage, with some noting that FBI agents are technically prohibited from drinking while on duty.

“For the very concerned media — yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys.” — Kash Patel, on X

Critics pointed to Patel’s own past comments criticizing former FBI Director Christopher Wray for allegedly using government jets for personal travel. Supporters said a hockey fan attending an historic American victory isn’t a scandal.

What Comes Next

The State of the Union is Tuesday night. Whether any hockey players — men or women — actually appear in the Capitol gallery remains uncertain. The women have formally declined. The men accepted enthusiastically but face weather delays, NHL schedules and the logistical reality of getting from Miami to Washington on short notice.

Jack Hughes, who scored the men’s game-winning goal, offered perhaps the most unifying moment of the entire saga. Asked about his first thoughts after scoring, he didn’t mention the president or politics.

“The first person I thought of was Megan Keller, who had the gold medal goal the other night. I saw her in the cafeteria, and I just said how happy and proud I am of their group.” — Jack Hughes

The women’s team, meanwhile, heads back to work. Hilary Knight, who forced overtime with a clutch goal and became the all-time leading scorer in US Olympic women’s hockey history, returns to the PWHL’s Seattle Torrent. Megan Keller, whose overtime winner gave America the gold, rejoins the Boston Fleet, currently atop the league standings.

When a president who brands himself as women’s sports’ greatest defender treats a gold medal women’s team as an afterthought to the men’s celebration, does the scheduling explanation settle the question — or does the pattern speak louder than the calendar?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from NBC News, CNN, Fox News, The Hill, The Boston Globe, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, and official announcements from USA Hockey and the PWHL.

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