Video shows Trump saying he'd 'have to' bring women's hockey team to White House

In late February 2026, a video circulated online purportedly showing U.S. President Donald Trump calling the U.S. men's hockey team on Feb. 22 after they beat Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics to win gold. Trump appeared to invite them to the White House for his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, telling them he would also "have to" bring the women's team or he "probably would be impeached."

The U.S. women's hockey team also defeated Canada in their respective final on Feb. 19.

For example, one X account posted the footage (archived) with the caption: "Trump mocks the gold medal-winning US women's hockey team: 'I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that. I do believe I probably would be impeached.'"

Social media users discussed or posted the clip on Instagram (archived), Facebook, Threads (archived), TikTok (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived). 

In short, the video is authentic, meaning it did not display obvious signs of AI generation or other digital editing. Numerous reputable news media outlets reported on the footage, multiple members of the U.S. men's hockey team have discussed the clip in recorded interviews and at least two official White House accounts reshared it on X. Therefore, we've rated this claim true.

While the video is real, it was not possible to confirm who originally recorded it. The White House and USA Hockey did not respond to Snopes' request for comment about the footage.

What the clip shows

Following the U.S. men's team's victory, FBI Director Kash Patel joined the players in the locker room.

Patel can be seen holding a phone displaying the letters "DT" in one version of the video posted online (around the 0:25 mark). The caller, Trump, can be heard talking about bringing the U.S. men's hockey team to the White House for a victory celebration around his State of the Union address and said (from 1:28), "And we have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that…"

The footage showed the team erupting into laughter as the president continued, "[unintelligible] do that, I do believe I probably would be impeached, OK."

Proof video is real

Numerous reputable news media outlets reported on the footage of Trump calling the men's hockey team, including The Associated Press and The Guardian. For example, Canada's national public broadcaster, CBC, wrote:

When extending the state of the union invitation to the men's team on Sunday night, Trump said, "I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that."

Several players appear to laugh, while one can be heard saying, "Absolutely."

Trump joked that if he did not also invite the women's team, "I do believe I probably would be impeached."

Multiple members of the U.S. men's hockey team also commented on the clip after it spread online.

For example, Jack Hughes, speaking alongside his brother Quinn Hughes, told ABC's "Good Morning America" panel, "I know that there's been, like, so much headlines and, you know, about the women's hockey team and, you know, the video, but we hung out, like, we were in the cafeteria with them at 3:30 in the morning."

Fox News, likewise, posted a video to Facebook showing Matthew Tkachuk responding to a reporter asking what it was like "to get that phone call from the president," to which Tkachuk replied:

It was super cool. It was an honor, you know, it really is hearing from the president of the United States. You know, hearing that, you know, he was supporting us and supporting us and all the other athletes and wanting us all to bring home as many gold medals as we can, so, we're definitely honored to represent him and the millions, hundreds of millions across the country in bringing a gold medal back.

Speaking to NBC's "Today" show, the Hughes brothers' mother, former U.S. women's hockey player Ellen Hughes, also commented on the footage showing Trump speaking to the men's hockey team.

Finally, both the official White House Rapid Response account (archived) and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino reposted (archived) versions of the clip on X. Patel also posted on social media (archived, archived) about celebrating the victory with the team in Milan, one of the cities where the 2026 Winter Olympics took place, though he did not comment specifically on the video circulating online.

Snopes contacted Instagram user @mike_malloy45, who was among the social media users who posted the video, via direct message. Malloy said a friend of a friend, who wished to remain anonymous, recorded the footage. Malloy believed it was "100% real."

Trump, men's team faced criticism over video

After the clip of the call circulated online, Trump and the U.S. men's hockey team faced criticism over the apparent dismissal of the women's team, who have medaled at every Olympic tournament since 1998, when the Games introduced the women's event.

It was not clear from the video whether Trump meant the remark in jest or whether the U.S. men's hockey team supported Trump's apparent dismissal of their female counterparts.

On Feb. 23, the day after the call, NBC News reported that the women's team had declined an invitation to attend the State of the Union address due to "previously scheduled academic and professional commitments." 

It was not immediately clear when the women's team received its invitation. As of this writing, the White House had posted (archived) on X about the men's victory on Feb. 22 but did not post about the women's gold three days earlier.

For further reading, Snopes has previously investigated various other claims about the 2026 Olympics.