Members of the U.S. men’s hockey team are scheduled to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, White House officials said.
The players also met with President Trump at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, a senior White House official said. They posed for photos with the medals and also took a tour of the White House, according to photos and videos posted by White House communications adviser Margo Martin.
Twenty members of the team were in the White House (all except Brock Nelson, Jackson Lacombe, Jake Oettinger, Jake Guentzel, and Kyle Connor).
A White House official said the administration was making arrangements for the players to attend the speech.
Most of the team’s players are participating in the trip, but some have declined to participate. National Hockey League games resume Wednesday.
President Trump invited the players Sunday after his team won the Olympic gold medal with an overtime victory over Canada. At the time, the president joked on a phone call with players that he would be impeached if he didn’t invite the women’s team as well. The U.S. women’s hockey team, which also won gold, declined the invitation on Monday, citing scheduling conflicts.
Leading Republican lawmakers said the men’s hockey team would be honored during the president’s address Tuesday night.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said lawmakers would find a way to “squeeze” the team. As the gallery where guests were seated was already full, Johnson told the president that Trump had called him on Sunday night to ask the hockey team to attend the speech.
“We’re going to coordinate the logistics and somehow get our hockey players together tonight and it’s going to be a great moment for America,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “And it’s just a symbol for all of us that we’re all playing for Team America.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) also told reporters: “We’re going to meet with them and celebrate them tonight as President Trump speaks about America’s 250th anniversary.”
The House chamber, where speeches are given, is usually packed with members of Congress, government officials and guests. Presidents, first ladies, and members of Congress invite guests to highlight their political and policy priorities. President Trump also invited Erika Kirk, widow of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, and the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guardsman shot and killed in Washington, D.C., last year.
Ellen Hughes, the mother of men’s team players Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes and a player development consultant for the U.S. women’s hockey team, was asked about President Trump’s impeachment comments in an interview on NBC’s “Today.”
“I think at the end of the day, it’s about the country and it’s a moment where these athletes, male and female, can bring such unity to the group and the country,” she said.
this is developing story. Please check back for the latest information.
Brennan Leach and Mark Scaglione contributed.
