U.S. women's hockey captain calls Trump's comment about team a 'distasteful joke' as fans blast male players

You'd be forgiven for thought USA Hockey's recent Instagram carry congratulating the men's team up for their gold medal win at the Olympics is, in fact, a post about the women's team.

That's because most of the comments — and there are more than 12,000 of them — are celebrating the women's hockey team, who also won gold at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games.

And that's because a video that shows U.S. President Donald Trump joking with the men's team after their win — saying he'd "have to" invite the women's team to the White House, too, and showing several of the male players laughing — has a lot of hockey fans seething.

"So as I was saying ... We are soooo proud of the WOMEN's hockey team for winning gold," one person commented on the Instagram post featuring a photo compilation of the 2026 men's Olympic hockey team. That comment was "liked" more than 34,000 times.

"Super proud of the women's hockey team! The men's hockey team.... Not so much," someone else wrote.

"Out of curiosity, what was so funny about inviting the women's team?" asked another commenter.

Last Sunday, Trump invited the U.S. Men's gold medal-winning hockey team to the White House during a phone call to congratulate players as they celebrated in the dressing room in Italy after their win over Canada.

When extending the invite, Trump said, "I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that."

Several players can be heard laughing, while one can be heard saying, "Absolutely."

The online backlash has been swift, with people on social media calling out the team for being complicit in belittling female athletes, not standing up to Trump's comments and undoing any recent gains made when it comes to toxic masculinity in hockey.

The headline on a column in USA Today said that the men's team "utterly failed to meet the cultural moment." In the Guardian, Toronto-based writer Colin Horgan wrote that by attending the state of the union address in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, the men's hockey team showed that "in Trump's America, proximity is never neutral." And NBC wrote that Trump's remark ignited a "culture war."

"He tried to make it up to be a joke, but, of course, the women did not find it funny — especially given that the U.S.A. Women's team won more medals than the men's overall and over several Olympic Games."

Unfortunately, his remarks and the team's reaction weren't that surprising, according to Michele Donnelly, an associate professor in the department of sport management at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont.

"It is horrifying, incredibly sad and boring that these misogynistic attitudes are still present in 2026," she said. "We need to expect more of men athletes."

U.S. Men's hockey team visits White House after gold medal win

During the state of the union address on Tuesday night, Trump announced that the women's hockey team will "soon" visit the White House. The women's team had previously declined an invitation due to the timing of the address.

"Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the midst of their season," the spokesperson said.

"They're honoured and grateful to be invited and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude."

A reporter on Wednesday directly asked two members of the U.S. Women's team if they felt disrespected or slighted by Trump's comment and the reaction in the locker room.

Laila Edwards, who plays defence, didn't answer. Teammate Caroline Harvey, who plays the same position, said the team was just happy to be coming home with a gold medal.

"It's not something we're focused on or really thinking about. We're moving forward," Harvey said, speaking to the media at the University of Wisconsin. "We did what we did there, and we're proud of our group."

In an interview with ESPN's SportsCenter on Wednesday, women's team captain Hilary Knight said of Trump's comment: "I thought it was sort of a distasteful joke, and unfortunately that is overshadowing a lot of the success — the success of just women at the Olympics, carrying for Team USA and having amazing gold medal feats."

But she added that the men's and women's teams have a "genuine level of support ... And respect" for each other that's "being overshadowed by a quick lapse."

In a news conference Wednesday for the Seattle Torrent, Knight once again called Trump's joke "distasteful and unfortunate," and said it's a great teaching point to shine a light on how women should be championed for their accomplishments.

Instead, she said, "now I have to sit in front of you and sort of explain someone else's behaviour. That's not my responsibility."

At the same news event, former pro soccer player Megan Rapinoe blasted "the wretched phone call," saying the team deserves to be recognized for how hard they played and for being inspirations.

"You're a champion forever, and no one can say shit about that."

Olympic team member Kelly Pannek, who's a forward for the Minnesota Frost, also spoke Wednesday about the level of support from the men's team. But as for the video circulating of Trump's comment about the women's team, "it is what it is," she said. "It's not surprising, to be frank. So I don't know why we expect differently."

Team USA women's hockey players asked if they felt 'disrespected' by Trump phone call

As some members of the U.S. Men's team returned to their own team practices on Wednesday, several players addressed the discourse surrounding Trump's comments.

"We should've reacted differently," said Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman in response to a reporter's question.

"We know that we are so excited for the women's team. We have so much respect for the women's team. To share that gold medal with them is something we're forever grateful for."

Some, like New York Rangers captain J.T. Miller, spoke about the honour of being invited to visit the White House and their support for the women's team.

"I took my daughter to go see, I think, two or three of their games, and the gold medal game," Miller said.

Jeremy Swayman: “We should’ve reacted differently” to President Trump’s comment about the women’s team.<br><br>“We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team. To share that gold medal with them is something we’re forever grateful for” <a href="https://t.co/YJwPmFSb1z">pic.twitter.com/YJwPmFSb1z</a>

But others, like Vincent Trocheck, also with the Rangers, expressed disappointment that the situation has been politicized.

"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," Trocheck told reporters.

And Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winning goal in OT, complained about the backlash in an interview with the Daily Mail.

"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 said. 

As many female athletes may know, what happened in the men's locker room is just one example of the misogyny and sexism that still exist, even as women's sports are experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity, breaking attendance and viewership records.

"Every woman and girl who has ever been excluded or laughed at for being an athlete felt that phone call and laughter in her bones," a commenter posted on USA Hockey's Instagram.

For example, a 2024 report from Canadian Women & Sport highlighted how sexism still holds back women's professional sports and investment decision-making.

Female athletes are also generally paid less than their male counterparts and receive less media coverage, the U.K.'s Women in Sport noted.

"These women deserve our respect — full stop."

Still, Schneider, with Western University, said she was somewhat surprised by Trump's comment and the team's reaction of laughing along, calling the latter "immature."

But, she added, "it's Trump, who is certainly not in favour of women's advancement, as he has clearly shown from his actions both personally and politically."

Senior Writer & Editor

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