On Monday, the U.S. Women’s hockey team declined President Trump’s offer to attend his State of the Union address.
The Men’s and Women’s USA Hockey teams were invited to the State of the Union after claiming Olympic Gold medals against Canada in the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Both teams defeated Canada 2-1.
But while the men’s team received a personal congratulations from the President for their success, the women’s team was ridiculed.
As the Olympic Games came to a close on Sunday, Trump invited the U.S. Men’s hockey team to his address over a phone call.
Footage of the post-game locker room call to the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team showed Trump praising the athletes during his invitation. Several of the hockey athletes enthusiastically accepted the President’s offer, yelling, “We’re in.”
The President went on to jokingly reference inviting the women’s Hockey team.
“I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team. You do know that,” He said. “If I didn’t do that, I do believe I would probably be impeached.”
The remark earned hard laughs from the men’s hockey players.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Women’s hockey team declined Trump’s invitation the next day.
“Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes were unable to participate,” said U.S. Women’s Hockey Communications manager Melissa Katz in a statement to Annenberg Media.
“They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” Katz said.
Twenty of the twenty-five U.S. men’s hockey team players attended the State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. No members of the women’s team attended, and they have made no further comments.
The video of the phone call has since circulated on the internet, drawing public scrutiny for sexism and undermining the women’s hockey team’s achievement, according to NBC News.
The “locker room talk” has put Trump and the male athletes under fire, especially men’s
players Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes. Their mother, Ellen Hughes, is a former U.S. hockey player and current representative of the U.S. women’s team.
Several USC club athletes supported the women’s hockey team’s decision to decline Trump’s invitation.
“I think they had every right to decline his offer, and as women, we shouldn’t be spending our time and effort to be in spaces where we’re not respected,” said Madeline Gordon, a second-year athlete on the USC softball club team.
Riley Rodriguez, the co-president of the USC women’s club basketball team, also said that she was proud of the women’s hockey players for declining the invitation.
“As a female athlete always being looked down upon, their response in declining Trump’s invitation was probably what every female athlete would do,” she said
The controversy has opened up discussions among USC student-athletes on the deeply rooted culture of misogyny against women’s sports.
Allie Vasquez, the captain and president of the USC women’s hockey club, said she was disappointed, but not surprised, by the men’s behavior.
“It’s really nothing new for them to sort of all be turning their noses up at women’s sports,” she said. “No matter how great the victory of winning the Olympics is, and no matter how well they did in the Olympics, and no matter how impressive they’ve been,” Vasquez said.
Rodriguez felt similar.
“I was honestly not surprised at all. Not surprised about the reaction, the celebration or the comments,” said Rodriguez. “Female athletes deal with these kinds of things basically every day from countless people, especially men. Seeing the posts truly was upsetting, frustrating and off-putting.”
Both of the club leaders shared that they had personal experiences with misogyny in sports.
“It’s something I’ve seen growing up in sports my whole life, and something that I’ve just seen growing up as a woman my whole life,” said Vasquez.
“It just sucks always being looked down upon with our talents simply because of our gender,” added Rodriguez.
Ella Thomason, an executive board member of the USC club women’s lacrosse team, felt disappointed in the men’s team. As a huge hockey fan, she woke up at 5 a.m. to watch the games and was excited when both the men’s and women’s teams won gold.
“It is just disappointing that both the men’s and the women’s achievements get overshadowed by situations like these,” she said.
But Thomason felt optimistic about people speaking out against the video. She hopes that the controversy will draw attention to how normalized misogyny against women’s sports has become.
Gordon also thinks the controversy will raise awareness, and hopes men’s players will be held accountable.
“Hopefully, hearing their own voices and hearing themselves laugh will make the US hockey men’s team — as well as other men in the sports industry — realize how normalized belittling successful, talented and prominent female figures in sports really is,” she said.