Wendell Cruz-Imagn ImagesThe U.S. Men’s Hockey Team’s celebration of its triumphant gold medal victory over Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics has been intertwined with political discourse.
The polarizing political storyline stems from a call Team USA received from President Donald Trump, shortly after winning the gold medal, in which he joked about being impeached if he didn’t also invite the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team to the White House.
The U.S. men’s visit to the White House, as well as their appearance at Wednesday night’s State of the Union address, has drawn mixed reactions from both sides of the political aisle.
On Wednesday, 20 out of 25 of Team USA’s players flew into Washington, visiting President Trump at the White House, while the U.S. Women declined the invitation due to “scheduled academic and professional commitments.”
New York Rangers’ forwards J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck visited the White House and attended the State of the Union address, where players were honored and showered with a standing ovation from members of Congress.
Trocheck addressed the discourse surrounding the team’s phone call with President Trump and their decision to visit Washington.
“It's sad that it's getting politicized the way it is,” Trocheck said. “We're all very proud to be Americans, and we were all so proud to go over there and win a gold medal. We went over there with a job, and it was to win gold and do it for our country and for everybody back here, and we were able to do that. It's sad that it automatically gets turned into something political when all we really wanted to do was represent everybody in here and everybody in our country as well as we could.”
Miller stood by his decision to visit Washington, emphasizing the significance and importance that both the White House and the Capitol building hold for America.
“We got invited to go, right? That’s a super humbling opportunity,” Miller said. “Just to be invited, that’s so special. I haven’t been there to tour around the Capitol or the White House or anything before, so just to see that and see how big everything is, it’s such a big part of American history.
“It’s been around for a really long time, so I just felt super honored to be a part of that and represent our country. And obviously, the reason we got to go there was a special reason also.”
As far as the conversation revolving around President Trump’s joke during his phone call with Team USA, there has been a wide range of responses from players to this issue.
Miller made the point to detail how close the U.S. men and women became throughout the entirety of the Olympics in Milan.
“We spent so much time with them, unbelievable people,” Miller said of the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team. “I got to go to their game. I took my daughter to go see I think two or three of their games. Everybody came together as a country, in the in the dorms and in the village.
“I don't follow all the noise on the outside. I mean, I don't have the internet right now, basically. We just enjoyed ourselves. And, you know, like I said, we're very proud to be Americans.”