Team USA Olympic Hockey player Jeremy Swayman admitted Wednesday that the men’s team “should’ve reacted differently” to President Donald Trump’s locker-room joke disparaging the women’s gold medalist team.
The acknowledgement came after the men’s team faced heated backlash to their reaction to the president dismissing the women’s team just one day after their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics.
“We should’ve reacted differently,” Swayman, the Boston Bruins’ goalie, said in a separate locker-room interview shared on X. “We know that we are so excited for the women’s team. We have so much respect for the women’s team, and to share that gold medal with them is something that we’re forever grateful for. You know, now that we’re home, we get to share that together forever and see the incredible support that we have from the USA, and sharing this incredible gold medal.”
Over the weekend, the U.S. men’s hockey team pulled off an overtime win against Canada to nab the gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The team went viral when video of FBI Director Kash Patel was shared online, showing him celebrating in the locker room with the team as he called Trump to congratulate the group directly.
As part of that congratulations, the president said he’d begrudgingly “have to bring the women’s team” to the White House, adding that he “probably would be impeached” if he didn’t invite them. The men’s team laughed, despite the women’s U.S. hockey team also bringing home gold.
Swayman was asked about the joke and the team’s reaction on Wednesday and admitted it should have gone differently. Watch that video below:
Much of the men’s hockey team attended Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday with the exception of five players: Jake Guentzel of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche, Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars and Jackson LaCombe of the Anaheim Ducks.
The women’s hockey team was also invited but declined to come.
“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. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
Although the women’s team turned down Trump’s invite, the president remained adamant during his State of the Union that they would be coming to the White House soon.
