On Feb. 24, 2026, the U.S. Olympic men's ice hockey team visited the White House, where they met President Donald Trump to celebrate winning a gold medal against Canada. Footage (archived) shared online purported to show members of the team eating McDonald's fast food in the White House.
The video showed the team seated at a table, wearing their gold medals while eating burgers. Some people compared that video to one of the U.S. Olympic women's hockey team, who reportedly had a "gourmet" meal with actor Stanley Tucci instead.
The footage is authentic and was originally posted by Scarlett Johnson, a podcast host whose X account bio describes her as a "White House new media correspondent." It appears Johnson was present at the White House the day of the visit and posted pictures of the team meeting Trump. However, a member of the hockey team later said the meal wasn't from McDonald's, so we've rated this claim false.
On Feb. 24, 2026, Johnson posted a video (archived) of the Olympic men's team eating burgers and other fast food on X with the caption: "Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue."
Johnson followed up with another post on Feb. 26: "I am still amazed that my little video of the Men's US Hockey Team eating McDonald's in the White House went bananas viral."
We reached out to Johnson to learn more but have not heard back as yet and will update this post accordingly. There's no evidence that the original footage was manipulated. Details in the footage confirm that this was part of the Olympic team's visit to the White House. The table they are seated at, as well as the painting of former President Theodore Roosevelt on a horse in the background, indicates they were eating in the Roosevelt Room.
Since 2025, the Trump administration has been welcoming "new media" into its press pool. More typically, in past years the pool has comprised large, established news organizations such as The Associated Press and Fox News. According to a Poynter media analysis, the "new media" pool includes "a collection of bloggers, podcasters and others who can't really be defined because their work and their organizations fit no description. They are part pundit, part commentator and a big part cheerleader for Trump, the MAGA movement and conservatism." Johnson is one such podcaster.
The White House's official photographs and footage posted by staffers of the visit did not show the hockey team members eating fast food.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle didn't confirm the contents of the meal to Snopes, saying instead: "President Trump is proud of Team USA's historic victory and the White House was excited to treat the gold medal champions to a hearty American meal."
Jack Eichel: 'It wasn't [McDonald's]'
Snopes originally judged the claim the team dined on McDonald's burgers true. However, team member Jack Eichel corrected the record in a Feb. 27 interview on the "Spittin Chiclets" podcast.
Asked if it was true they were fed McDonald's, Eichel said (at the 1:06:25 mark in the recording):
That got out there that it was McDonald's but it wasn't. We got burgers and they had a very nice spread for us. It was kind of cool, the top of the burger bun had a White House stamp on it. So it wasn't Mickey D's.
As a side note, the U.S. women's hockey team did share a meal with Tucci in Milan in early February 2026, before they won a gold medal, according to their official Instagram post. The meal was not a victory celebration, unlike the men's team's visit to the White House in late February. The women's team declined Trump's invitation to attend his State of the Union address (which was attended by members of the men's team), saying in a statement:
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. Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.
Snopes has previously covered authentic footage of Trump telling the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team he would also "have to" invite the women's team to the White House for a victory celebration or he "probably would be impeached."