{"id":2573646,"date":"2026-02-25T16:28:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hockey-gold-medalist-says-team-shouldve-handled-trumps-joke-better\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T16:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T21:30:46","slug":"hockey-gold-medalist-says-team-shouldve-handled-trumps-joke-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hockey-gold-medalist-says-team-shouldve-handled-trumps-joke-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey gold medalist says team should\u2019ve handled Trump&#8217;s joke better"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhockey-gold-medalist-says-team-shouldve-handled-trumps-joke-better%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2573646&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Team USA\u2019s men\u2019s hockey gold medalists faced scrutiny after a viral locker-room video captured President Trump joking about inviting the women\u2019s team to the White House and to the State of the Union. Goalie Jeremy Swayman said the men\u2019s team should have reacted differently to the remark, though he emphasized their respect for the women\u2019s team and their pride in sharing the gold. Swayman attended the White House visit and the State of the Union before returning to Boston to resume his NHL season, calling the experience an incredible honor.<\/p>\n<p>The women\u2019s team declined Trump\u2019s invitation due to prior academic and professional commitments, while several members of the men\u2019s team did not attend washington events for various reasons. The article also notes that Connor Hellebuyck is set to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Hockey gold medalist says team should&rsquo;ve handled Trump&rsquo;s joke better<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2515404\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Team USA <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/hockey\/\">ice hockey<\/a> goaltender Jeremy Swayman admitted to reporters on Wednesday that the men&rsquo;s hockey team should have &ldquo;reacted differently&rdquo; to President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s joke about inviting the women&rsquo;s team to the White House, after both teams won gold medals at the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Olympics\/\">Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Swayman, who joined the team in visiting the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/White-House\/\">White House<\/a> and attending the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/state-of-the-union\/\">State of the Union<\/a> on Tuesday, returned to Boston on Wednesday to resume his NHL season with the Bruins.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4471703\/critics-olympians-state-of-the-union-wrong-joe-concha\/\">Critics of Olympians at State of the Union are &#8216;whole bowl of wrong&#8217;: Joe Concha<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4471487\/trump-promise-financial-relief-face-history-midterms-byron-york\/\">Trump&#8217;s promise of financial relief must face &#8216;history&#8217; of midterms: Byron York<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4471286\/jimmy-kimmel-carps-trump-record-breaking-state-of-the-union\/\">Jimmy Kimmel carps over Trump&#8217;s record-breaking State of the Union: &#8216;Play him off&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;We should&rsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-cotton-biden-doj-fails-to-enforce-law-in-pro-abortion-protests\/\" title=\"Sen. Cotton: Biden DOJ fails to enforce law in pro-abortion protests\">ve reacted differently<\/a>,&rdquo; Swayman told reporters. &ldquo;We know that we are so excited for the women&rsquo;s team. We have so much respect for the women&rsquo;s team, and to share that gold medal with them is something we&rsquo;re forever grateful for.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jeremy Swayman: &ldquo;We should&rsquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >ve reacted differently&#038;rdquo<\/a>; to President Trump&rsquo;s comment about the women&rsquo;s team.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We know that we are so excited for the women&rsquo;s team. We have so much respect for the women&rsquo;s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we&rsquo;re forever grateful for&rdquo; <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YJwPmFSb1z\">pic.twitter.com\/YJwPmFSb1z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/smclaughlin9\/status\/2026717415157944654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Shortly after beating Canada&rsquo;s hockey team in overtime for the United States&rsquo;s first gold medal in Hockey since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, the team came under fire for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/viral-video-shows-airline-take-sick-action-against-family-when-2-year-old-toddler-refuses-to-wear-mask\/\" title=\"Viral Video Shows Airline Take Sick Action Against Family when 2-Year-Old Toddler Refuses To Wear Mask\">viral video<\/a> taken from inside the locker room on a call with Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The video shows FBI Director <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Kash-Patel\/\">Kash Patel<\/a> on speakerphone with Trump as he congratulates the team on their win in the locker room. Trump invited the team to the White House and the State of the Union address during the call, and joked that he would have to invite the women&rsquo;s team, too.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4467072\/patel-defends-olympics-trip-partying-with-hockey-team\/\"><strong>PATEL DEFENDS OLYMPICS TRIP AFTER FOOTAGE SHOWS HIM PARTYING WITH US HOCKEY TEAM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Both the women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s teams defeated Canada in overtime to win gold.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the men&rsquo;s team, the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/sports\/4468185\/us-women-hockey-decline-invitation-state-of-the-union\/\">women&rsquo;s team declined<\/a> Trump&rsquo;s invitation to the State of the Union, citing previously scheduled commitments as the reason behind the decision.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. women&rsquo;s team announced the decision in a statement Monday, saying it is &ldquo;sincerely grateful&rdquo; for the invitation and appreciates the recognition.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Due to the timing and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-womens-hockey-team-declines-invite-to-state-of-the-union\/\" title=\"US women...s ... declines invite to ... of the ...\">previously scheduled academic<\/a> and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate,&rdquo; the statement reads. &ldquo;They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Swayman said that now that both teams have returned to the United States, they can share their gold medal experiences together.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We get to share that together forever and see the incredible support we have from the USA and sharing this incredible gold medal,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Five members from the men&rsquo;s hockey team did not go to Washington after celebrating their win in Miami on Monday night, including defenseman Jackson LaCombe, goaltender Jake Oettinger, and forwards Brock Nelson, Jake Guentzel, and Kyle Connor.<\/p>\n<p>Guentzel, who plays for the Tampa Bay Lightning, said he decided not to join the team for the White House visit because of &ldquo;timing,&rdquo; but he said it was an honor to be there in 2017 after winning the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins during Trump&rsquo;s first administration.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It happens to be a dream come true to go, I was fortunate to go in 2017 when Trump was in office,&rdquo; Guentzel <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JSB_TV\/status\/2026684134131659017\">told reporters<\/a>. &ldquo;Thought it would be good to come home, rest and recover, and try to spend some time with my family before we get going.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The reasons for some of the players&rsquo; lack of attendance remain unclear, but the NHL has been on hiatus since Feb. 5 so players could represent their teams at the Olympics.<\/p>\n<p>NHL games will resume Wednesday night, one day after the State of the Union and three days after the men&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-i-can-send-a-military-plane-or-something-trump-called-the-us-mens-hockey-team-after-their-historic-win-and-made-an-offer-they-couldnt-refuse\/\" title=\"WATCH: ...I Can Send a Military Plane or Something... - ... Called the US Men...s ... After Their Historic ... and Made an Offer They Couldn...t Refuse\">hockey team won<\/a> their gold medal.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4470654\/usa-hockey-connor-hellebuyck-presidential-medal-freedom-trump\/\"><strong>USA HOCKEY GOALIE CONNOR HELLEBUYCK TO RECEIVE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM FROM TRUMP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Swayman said it was an &ldquo;incredible honor&rdquo; to visit the White House and attend the State of the Union.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re there to represent our country, celebrate the gold medal for the United States, and that was something we really embodied,&rdquo; Swayman said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re really grateful to be a part of.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swayman: We should&#8217;ve reacted differently to that joke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3984,"featured_media":2573647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056104900854.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[74584,7286,74585],"class_list":["post-2573646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-gold-medalist-2","tag-hockey","tag-team-dynamics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26056104900854.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3984"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2573646"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2573651,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573646\/revisions\/2573651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2573647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2573646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2573646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2573646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}