Why USA hockey is at the State of the Union for Donald Trump’s address after Olympic gold medal win

Why USA hockey is at the State of the Union for Donald Trump’s address after Olympic gold medal win originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Both the United States’ men’s and women’s ice hockey teams took home the gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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To make the victories even better, both came in overtime, and both saw the USA win 2-1 over Team Canada, which is generally favored as being the best hockey team.

It was an exciting win for the United States, and the men’s team celebrated in their locker room after the big win. Videos have been released of their celebrations, including downing beers with FBI Director Kash Patel and a FaceTime with President Trump. During the FaceTime, Trump invited the men’s team to attend his State of the Union address, and then added he guessed he should invite the women’s team too.

The hockey wins came over the weekend, and both teams had to fly back from Italy amid a severe storm in the northeastern United States. The NHL season resumes on Wednesday, with the State of the Union address scheduled for the night of Tuesday, February 24.

Here is more on whether or not the gold-medal-winning USA hockey teams are at the State of the Union address.

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MORE: How Jack Hughes became national icon for Team USA

Is USA hockey at the State of the Union?

During the video showing the FaceTime with the President, the men’s team accepted the invitation, but it didn’t feel like a binding decision. It is more seen as the team riding high from the win and responding to the President’s offer. Officials from both the White House and Team USA have not confirmed whether they will attend the address.

The men’s gold-medal-winning team is confirmed to be celebrating the victory in Miami, Florida on Monday night. Trump has invited them both to the State of the Union address on Tuesday, and to the White House on Wednesday to be honored, per The Athletic.

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With the address and the visit lining up with the NHL regular season restarting, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic that “players can decide on an individual basis if they want to accept the invitation and then it’ll be up to their individual teams whether or not to grant permission.”

The women’s team declined the invitation. A spokesperson for the team said, “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…They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson pointed out that the logistics may be tough to get the men’s hockey team to the State of the Union. “We’ve got to figure out logistics. There’s no way to have special guests on the floor because it’s a literal session of Congress and you know that’s what’s good about rules. But we’re going to work and do what we can to accommodate. We certainly want to have them here for the celebration. It’s quite a feat. The men’s and women’s hockey teams. We’re trying to work out logistics to see if there’s some way to perhaps get them into the gallery and the doors, wave and receive the applause that they’re due. We’re working on logistics.”

Team USA’s men’s hockey team is en route to Washington D.C. ahead of the State of the Union address as of Tuesday afternoon.