U.S. men's hockey team expected to attend Trump's State of the Union speech

Many of the players also met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, a senior White House official said.

The U.S. men's hockey team poses with their gold medals at the White House on Feb. 24, 2026.

The U.S. men's hockey team poses with their gold medals Tuesday at the White House.White House via X

WITH A NBCUNIVERSAL PROFILE

Feb. 24, 2026, 3:08 PM EST / Updated Feb. 24, 2026, 3:59 PM

Members of the U.S. men's hockey team are expected to attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, White House officials said.

Twenty members of the team were at White House (all players but Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Oettinger, Jake Guentzel and Kyle Connor.)

The administration had been working through logistics so the players could attend the speech, a White House official said.

Most players on the team are making the trip, though some have declined to attend. National Hockey League games resume on Wednesday.

Trump invited the players on Sunday after the team won the Olympic gold medal in an overtime victory against Canada. At the time, on a phone call with the players, the president joked that he would be impeached if he did not also invite the women's team. The U.S. women's hockey team, which also won gold, declined the invitation on Monday, citing scheduling conflicts.

Top Republican lawmakers said the men's hockey team would be honored during the president's speech Tuesday evening.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said lawmakers would find a way "squeeze in" the team. He explained that Trump called him Sunday night to say that he wanted the hockey team to attend the speech — a request that presented logistical hurdles because, as Johnson told the president, the gallery, where guests sit, was already full.

"We’re going to work out logistics, and somehow, some way, we’ll squeeze in the hockey players tonight, and it’ll be a great moment for America," Johnson told reporters on Tuesday. "And it really is a symbol to all of us that we all play for America’s team."

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., also told reporters that "we’re going to see them, and we’re going to celebrate them tonight as President Trump talks about the 250th birthday of America."

The House chamber, where the speech takes place, is typically packed with lawmakers, top officials and guests. The president, first lady and members of Congress bring guests who highlight their political and policy priorities. Trump also invited Erika Kirk, the widow of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, and the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, the 20-year-old National Guard member who was shot and killed in Washington, D.C., last yea.

Ellen Hughes, who is the mother of men's team players Jack and Quinn Hughes and also a player development consultant for the U.S. women's hockey team, was asked about Trump's impeachment comments in an interview with NBC's "Today."

"I think at the end of the day, it's just about the country, and the moment that these players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country," she said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-us-mens-hockey-team-state-union-speech-congress-rcna260479

Can’t find full video of visit to WH

L>>24303039. Someone must pass this on to POTUS and have the hockey players surrounding him to stop any pranks

>>24302949. Amen echoing through time and space! AMEN

Thank you for listening and answering Father! You are the Only God and Father we trust and rely on. I can’t wait to get back to you, when it’s time. Thank you Father and DAD

>>24302892. He always gets kicked out. He needs to retire

List of US hockey players who skipped Trump White House visit

I fucking hate the media, no media tried so hard to humiliate a President you failed assholes

Five members of the U.S. Men’s hockey team skipped a visit to the White House on Tuesday ahead of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.

Why It Matters

Nearly the entire team showed up at the White House on Tuesday. It comes aftersome team members faced backlash from fans over a call with Trump, during which the president said he would be impeached if he did not also invite the US women’s hockey team—who also won gold—to the White House. The meeting also comes after a video showed FBI Director Kash Patel celebrating with the men’s hockey team after their gold medal win on Sunday.

What to Know

White House official Margo Martin posted a photograph to X of 20 members of the US hockey team attending a meeting at the White House on Tuesday. She also posted a photograph of the players meeting with Trump inside the White House. There are 25 members of the team, so five were absent.

This is the full list of the five members who skipped the White House meeting, NBC News reported.

Kyle Connor

Jake Guentzel

Jackson LaCombe

Brock Nelson

Jake Oettinger

The men's hockey team poses for a photograph in Milan, Italy, on February 22, 20… | Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

It is not clear why those members opted to skip the meeting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has said he would work out logistics to allow the hockey team to attend the State of the Union address as well.

Women’s Hockey Team Declines to Meet With Trump (politely declined they were notified too late to schedule it! Fuckers!)

President Trump called the men’s team from the locker room shortly after their gold medal win, congratulating them and extending an invitation to both the White House and the State of the Union.

During the call, he joked that he would “have to invite the women’s team” as well or risk being “impeached,” aremark that circulated widely online and drew backlash.(wtf why?)

While the men’s team accepted the invitation and met with Trump, the women’s team declined it.

“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,” the team 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 acknowledgment.”

Team USA hockey player Jack Hughesresponded to criticism the team faced over the Trump phone call in remarks to The Daily Mail,in which he said the team is “proud to represent the US” and that “no matter what your views are, we’re super excited to go [to the White House].”

“Everyone’s giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today, but it’s so negative. People are so negative out there and they’re trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” he said, adding that “everyone in that locker room knows how much we support” the women’s team.

What People Are Saying

Kyle Connor told The Athletic, per Murat Ates, when asked about Trump’s comment:“I don't really have any thoughts on that. There's so many things happening. We just won the gold medal and things are going on so I don't really remember what he said. It's such a whirlwind, just celebrating.”

President Donald Trump wrote to Truth Social over the weekend: “Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Consultant Stephanie Cutter, who has worked on Democratic campaigns, wrote to X: “I have a son who plays competitive hockey and I'm a huge fan of @usahockey, both men's and women's. Let's stop criticizing the men's hockey team - their gold medal win was hard won and heroic. Sure, Trump's comment wasn't funny, but it shouldn’t overshadow their incredible achievement.”

What Happens Next

Trump’s State of the Union address, the first since his return to the White House, is set to begin at 9 p.m. ET.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to help produce this story. Learn more about Martyn.

Was there anytime in history that it was more important of guests missing attendance, than the President of the United States? No you fucking sick media.

(https://www.newsweek.com/list-of-us-hockey-players-who-skipped-trump-white-house-visit-11577017

I can’t believe they let Jonathan Karl in the WH

Jonathan Karl

@jonkarl

President Trump’s lunch with network anchors

3:23 PM · Feb 24, 2026

·

165.7K

Views

https://x.com/jonkarl/status/2026392505407697035?s=20

Banning transgender women from lesbian group could 'undermine their dignity', court hears

By the Specialist Reporting Team's Paige Cockburn

In short:

A Victorian lesbian group is seeking an exemption to the Sex Discrimination Act so it can legally prevent transgender women from attending its events.

The Human Rights Commission told the Federal Court today an exemption could cause harm to transgender women.

What's next?

A judgement will be handed down later this year

Transgender women could have their dignity "undermined" and be made to feel "inferior" if a lesbian group is allowed to ban them from events, a court has heard.

The Lesbian Action Group (LAG) has been in the Federal Court this week, appealing a decision by the Human Rights Commission (HRC) that ruled the group could not legally exclude transgender women from its public events.

The LAG does not believe people can change sex and wants to hold political and social events exclusively for "lesbian born females". This means no males or transgender women could attend.

To do this, it must get an exemption to the Sex Discrimination Act, which ordinarily protects against discrimination on the basis of gender identity.

The community organisation, which has about 15 members, has been denied this exemption twice before — once by the HRC and again on appeal to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART).

It has now appealed to the Federal Court,arguing lesbians have unique needs and interests and should be able to hold events without "biological males" present.OMG that is so ridiculous!

The HRC opposes the appeal and today told the court banning trans women from such events would go against the purpose of the Sex Discrimination Act and come at "too great a cost".

"Trans lesbians see themselves and seek to manifest themselves to the world as women and lesbians. The exclusion here seeks to perpetuate the view that actually they are neither of those things," senior counsel for the commission, Celia Winnett, said.

"Exclusion on the ground of a protected characteristic can be a vice … it can be a reflection that people are inferior on that basis."

Ms Winnett gave examples of exemptions, such as those issued to Australian lead mining companies in the 1990s which allowed them to only employ men because lead exposure could put women's fertility or unborn babies at risk.

She said this was different to the current application, which had the purpose of excluding trans women just because they were transgender.

The LAG has maintained it did not wish harm on the trans community and supported them holding their own events, but having "biological males" in their spaces made some members feel unsafe.

The group's legal team has sought to rely on the example of Melbourne's Peel Hotel, which has an exemption under Victorian state law so it can refuse entry to anyone who may affect the safety or comfort of its homosexual male patrons.

But junior counsel for the commission, Andrew Bell, said this was different to the application before the court because staff at the Peel explained to customers at the door that the bar catered to homosexual men and it was up to them to decide whether to enter.

"The venue was not to be exclusively for homosexual men … and once people are inside the venue the purpose of congregating was not to advance a political goal … including that sex is immutable and binary," Mr Bell said.

'Inclusion does not equal equality'

Counsel for the LAG, Leigh Howard, disagreed and told the court the Peel Hotel exemption was an example of when exclusion created a net benefit for everyone.

"All lesbians want is an equivalent opportunity to enjoy their rights in a public setting," he said.

Mr Howard argued that the previous ART ruling did not properly consider the interests of cisgender lesbians, and transgender women did not need to be included to be considered equal.

"Inclusion does not equal equality … there is nothing wrong with lesbians seeking their own exclusive space to the exclusion of the male gaze," he said.

(If they are so embarrassed about being transgender it bisexual, it obviously nothing you should choose idiots)

I didn’t like wearing glasses as a child but I got over it!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-24/trans-women-ban-could-undermine-dignity-court-hears/106379566

Warren urges Trump to press GOP on reining in Wall Street’s housing purchases

“If Trump wanted to make real changes that would lower costs for the American people, we can make that happen,” said the Massachusetts Democrat.

(This might be the first time she’s worked with Trump or a Republican)

@The person who could make a big difference is Donald Trump,” the Massachusetts Democrat told POLITICO on Monday, on the eve of the president’s State of the Union address. “If he would push his Republicans to get on board, we could turn that into law.”

“If Trump wanted to make real changes that would lower costs for the American people, we can make that happen,”said Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.

Congress has moved closer to passing a broader law designed to increase the supply of homes to make housing cheaper — which,if it became law, would likely stand as Warren’s biggest legislative achievement. Her bill with Senate Banking ChairTim Scott (R-S.C.) already garnered unanimous support in the upper chamber as an amendment and is expected to get a vote on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.

The House has passed its own version of bipartisan legislation, teeing up the possibility of a viable package to send to Trump’s desk.But the White House has said it wants the final version to include language restricting the ability of institutional investors to snap up single-family homes, something that is not currently in either bill.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said that prohibiting large investors from buying single-family homesis an administration priority.

“The effort to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes has strong support among the American public, as well as Republicans and Democrats, enough for it to easily become law,” Ingle said in a statement.“The President has made it clear that he is committed to signing legislation that truly makes purchasing a home affordable again, and a key ingredient is his popular proposal to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.”

(This first time Warren had loving feelings to a Republican President and its PDJT, that she’s hated from day one. They always underestimate his power and intellect. Or making a deal.)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/24/warren-urges-trump-to-press-gop-on-reining-in-wall-streets-housing-purchases-00794831

I guess he doesn’t address her as Pocahontas anymore!

>>24303392

Trump calls Warren 'Pocahontas' while announcing he received letter from Zelenskyy calling for peace

3/5/25

3:23

https://youtu.be/vr9U-FCv9gY

Watters: There is A LOT to talk about tonight…

Fox News host Jesse Watters discusses President Donald Trump’s upcoming State of the Union address

5:28

https://youtu.be/nnDte10lunw