USA men's hockey team met Trump after gold medal win - and it went down as well as you'd expect

The Team USA men's hockey team visited the White House on Tuesday (February 24) after their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics, following their controversial post-win phone call with President Trump.

The side's dramatic 2-1 win over Canada marks Team USA's first men's hockey gold medal in 46 years, since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”.

“I recognize every one of you. I know every one of you,” Trump said as he welcomed the team to the Oval Office and said "Big guys" as he shook the players' hands.

Posting a photo of the team with Trump inside the Oval Office, the official White House X/Twitter account wrote, "And no, we're not tired of winning yet."

At one point, player Matthew Tkachuk asked Trump if he wanted to try his gold medal on, to which Trump joked, "Yeah, absolutely. I’m not giving it back."

Tkachuk then replied, "I’ll trade you that for a pen."

As he tried the medal on, Trump described how "cool" it was and admitted, "I never thought I’d have this on me."

Which players were absent?

Members of the US Men's Olympic hockey team are recogized by US President Donald Trump as he delivers the State of the Union addressAndrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Not all of the men's team was in attendance, with five players notably absent - Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel, Jake Oettinger and Kyle Connor.

Some of those players (Nelson, Lacombe, Guentzel and Oettinger) were born or raised in Minnesota, a state that has been making headlines due to the strict immigration crackdown imposed by the Trump administration.

Although Connor, who plays for the Winnipeg Jets in Canada, cited his absence was to focus on the rest of the NHL season set to commence again on Wednesday.

"I’m just getting ready. We play on Wednesday,” he explained to the Athletic. “It’s a big second half so I just wanted to make sure I was ready."

USA women's hockey team declined White House invitation

Gold medalist Team United States pose after the medal ceremony for the Ice Hockey Women following the Women's Gold Medal match between the United States and CanadaPruce Bennett/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the women's team, which also won gold at the Winter Olympics, declined Trump's invitation to attend the State of the Union address.

"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 said in a statement released 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 acknowledgement."

Why has the USA men's hockey team been criticised?

The men's hockey team has come under fire for their locker room celebrations, which included an appearance by FBI Director Kash Patel, who called Trump to speak with the players following the gold medal win.

In his congratulatory call, Trump invited the team to attend Tuesday night’s State of the Union address at the US Capitol as guests of honour.

But it's what Trump said about the women's hockey team, who also won gold at the Games, that has been widely criticised.

"I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” he said. “You do know that. I do believe I’d probably would be impeached [if the women’s team wasn’t invited]," he said, prompting laughter from the players.

How have the players responded to the backlash?

Some of the players have pushed back at the backlash they've received over their reaction to Trump's phone call.

Jack Hughes described the relationship between the men's team and women's team as "tight" in a recent interview with brother and fellow player Quinn Hughes. (For context, their mother, Ellen Hughes, is a player development consultant for the USA women’s hockey team.)

"Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Olympic Village, I think we are so tight with their group," said Hughes, center for the New Jersey Devils, as per ESPN. "After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. in the morning with them. We go from there, pack our bags and we're on the bus."

"People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them. The same way we feel about them, they feel about us."

Jack repeated this sentiment on Monday in response to a question from the Daily Mail at a team celebration event in Miami.

"Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. 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," he replied.

The brothers also made an appearance on Good Morning America on Tuesday, where they confirmed their attendance for the team's White House visit.

"I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, but yes. We're excited to go. It's not something you get to do every Tuesday. It's going to be special for us," said Quinn Hughes, a defenseman for the Minnesota Wild.

He also addressed the backlash over the team's reaction to Trump's comments.

"I'm glad you mentioned the women's team again; we're extremely happy for them. There's a lot going on with social media right now surrounding our team and their team. But in the last couple of summers, we did a lot of training with them and got to know a lot of those girls really well," Quinn added.

Social media reacts to USA men's hockey team meeting with Trump

Since videos and photos have been emerging of the USA men's hockey team's White House meeting with Trump, both the President and the new gold medallists are continuing to be criticised.

Mehdi Hasan wrote of Trump, "He is obsessed - obsessed - with taking other people’s prizes and medals. Never seen anything like it."

"Truly generational run of losing your entire female fanbase," a second person said.

A third person added, "Trump doesn’t want the U.S. men’s hockey team at the State of the Union to celebrate them. He wants them there so it looks like they’re celebrating him."

A fourth person simply reacted by booing and posting a bunch of tomato emojis.

"Oh look! Another medal he didn’t earn!" a fifth person commented.

Someone else posted, "Every single photo that comes out is honestly just making me laugh at this point what do you mean just this morning you were WHINING TO THE MEDIA about 'making things political' and now you’re wearing the president's MERCH?"

"Nah, f^ck these guys," another person reacted.

Elsewhere from Indy100, Trump shares bizarre AI video of him brawling on ice with Canadian hockey players, and Women's ice hockey team decline Trump's invitation amid mocking.

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