Team USA hockey player Vincent Trocheck addressed the media on Wednesday, February 23, one day after the gold medal-winning team’s divisive trip to the White House.
“It’s sad that it’s getting politicized the way it is,” Trocheck, 32, told reporters. “We’re all very proud to be Americans, and we were all so proud to go [to the 2026 Winter Olympics] 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.”
Trocheck continued, “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.”
The New York Rangers star said he had never visited the White House or the U.S. Capitol, where he and other members of the team attended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 22.
Trocheck called it “such an honor to be able to go.”
J.T. Miller, who plays with Trocheck in New York and also won gold with Team USA in Italy, also defended the D.C. visit when he met with reporters on Wednesday.
“We got invited to go, right? That’s a super humbling opportunity,” Miller, 32, said.
Trocheck, Miller and 18 of their Team USA teammates met with Trump, 79, on the heels of him taking a dig at the Team USA women’s hockey team during a celebratory phone call after the men’s team defeated Canada in the gold medal game on Sunday, February 22.
President Donald Trump Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
During the call, Trump said he would “probably be impeached” if he didn’t also invite the women’s team to the White House after they also won gold at the 2026 Olympics.
“We spent so much time with them,” Miller said of the Team USA women’s hockey team. “They’re unbelievable people, and we got to go to their game. I took my daughter to go see, I think, two or three of their games, and the gold medal game. Everybody came together as a country in the dorms and in the village. I don’t follow all the noise on the outside.”
Miller said he has been shielded from the backlash that Team USA has faced for meeting with Trump after his disparaging comments.
“I don’t have the internet right now, basically,” he explained. “So, we just enjoyed ourselves. And like I said, we’re very proud to be Americans. We came back with a gold medal, and that’s the reason we went there. We feel really proud and lucky to have all the opportunities we’ve had over the last couple days.”
Five members of the Team USA men’s team skipped meeting with Trump: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel, Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe, Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor and Colorado Avalanche forward Brock Nelson.
The Team USA women’s hockey team turned down an invite to meet with Trump after their gold medal victory.
“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,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said in a statement on Monday, February 23. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
