Trump invites gold-winning U.S. men’s hockey team to State of the Union

MILAN — President Donald Trump invited the United States men’s hockey team to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., and said he wanted to honor the team at the White House on Wednesday.

During a postgame celebration inside the winning locker room at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Sunday night after the U.S. defeated Canada, the president called to congratulate the team for winning the country’s first men’s hockey gold medal in 46 years. Video of the call appeared on X.

With FBI director Kash Patel holding what appeared to be his cell phone with the initials “DT” on the home screen, Trump, on speaker phone, told players and staff he’d send a military plane to pick them up and bring them to Washington for the State of the Union. The team was scheduled to charter from Milan to Miami on Monday after having its original flight to New York changed due to the winter storm hitting the northeast.

“We’re in,” one player yelled.

“Can you pick us up in Miami on Tuesday morning?” another asked.

TEAM USA hockey will be celebrating gold tonight at Miami’s Club E11even pic.twitter.com/FoMcdVzRFL

— Andy Slater (@AndySlater) February 23, 2026

Trump congratulated the men for playing an “unbelievable game” and said, “Your goalie played not bad.”

You can hear the genuine pride in Donald Trumps voice when he called the Team USA Hockey Team pic.twitter.com/ch6GbXShwh

— Harrison Krank (@HarrisonKrank) February 23, 2026

As players roared when the president shouted out Connor Hellebuyck for his masterpiece in earning the United States its third men’s hockey gold medal, Hellebuyck yelled, “How you doing, Don?”

Patel yelled excitedly, “You boys are going to the State of the Union!”

“Thank you, Mr. President,” a player said.

Trump added that after Tuesday night’s State of the Union, “We’ll do the White House the next day. We’ll just have some fun. We have medals for you guys. … I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.” Trump joked that he’d “probably be impeached” if he didn’t invite the gold medal-winning women’s team.

Unity, Sacrifice, Attitude- what it takes to be the best in the world. These men live and breathe it. Now Team USA are gold medal champions, legends standing on the shoulders of giants. Thank you for representing the greatest country on earth, in the greatest game ever created.… pic.twitter.com/hBG987pxM2

— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 22, 2026

The invitations could lead to a delicate issue for the American NHLers because they’re expected to return to their NHL teams on Tuesday, with eight games set for Wednesday involving 12 players from the United States’ 25-player roster, including Hellebuyck (his Winnipeg Jets play in Vancouver) and overtime hero Jack Hughes (his New Jersey Devils host Tage Thompson’s Buffalo Sabres), as the league’s regular season resumes.

On Thursday, there are 12 NHL games involving 16 players on the roster. The New York Rangers, coached by U.S. head coach Mike Sullivan and assistant coach David Quinn, and Minnesota Wild, coached by USA assistant coach John Hynes, play that night.

U.S. team general manager Bill Guerin, also the Wild’s GM, told The Athletic via text that he’s fine with Wild players Quinn Hughes, Matt Boldy and Brock Faber going to the State of Union and White House if they want to. He said he’s not sure what other teams will decide. The Wild resume their season Thursday night at Colorado.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic that players can decide on an individual basis if they want accept the invitation and then it’ll be up to their individual teams whether or not to grant permission.

Trump said if they can work it out, “I would be honored to have you.”

Patel, invited into the locker by his friend, Guerin, responded, “I got it, boss. I got it. … I’m on it. I’m f—ing on it.”

Trump told the players, “You’re going to be proud of that game for 50 years as you grow older.”

He added, “Tuesday night, I want to shake hands with everybody, but I gotta shake hands with that goalie.”

Patel, who also attended the United States’ semifinal win over Slovakia on Friday night, has been under scrutiny for using a U.S. government/Justice Department jet to fly to Milan for the Olympics, and for celebrating the gold medal win amid other serious obligations of his job.

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- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.…

— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 23, 2026

There are several videos from inside the locker room posted on X showing Patel partying with the USA hockey team after the game.

A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6

— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026

There is precedent for gold-medalists missing NHL games after the Olympics.

When Sweden won gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics, capturing the country’s first win in a best-on-best tournament, the players took a detour to Stockholm before returning to their NHL jobs.

“In the hours that followed, the Swedish team had a choice to make,” Mats Sundin wrote in his 2024 book, “Home and Away.” “It was Sunday, February 26, and many of us had NHL games scheduled on the coming Tuesday. Was forty-eight hours enough time to fly to Stockholm for a celebration, then get back to North America to rejoin our teams? Probably not, but we would do it anyway.”

Sundin described the impromptu gold-medal celebration as a “magical day” and “dream come true.”

When the team’s charter flight entered Swedish airspace, two JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets flanked its plane and guided it home to Arlanda Airport. Fire trucks lined the runway and doused the plane in celebration, and tens of thousands greeted players in Medborgarplatsen, the square in central Stockholm, for a celebration.

The players topped it off with one final team dinner and party before returning to North America.

Sundin made it back in time for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ first post-Olympics game, playing the same day he flew back, straight off the plane. But multiple other players missed games, including Henrik Lundqvist, Nicklas Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson.