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Brady Tkachuk is back with his Ottawa Senators and stood his ground when asked about the viral moment in which Team USA laughed at a joke by President Donald Trump about the women’s ice hockey team during a phone call after both teams won gold medals in Milan.
As players like Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman admitted, players “should have reacted differently.”
Tkachuk responded to a reporter’s question about when Trump said he “would have” to invite the women’s team, which also defeated Canada in the Olympics, to Tuesday’s State of the Union or else he would “probably be impeached.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Tkachuk said when a reporter asked if he understood that the women’s team was upset with the men’s team’s reaction. “I have no comments other than the things we can control. We support them. They supported us. I can’t control what other people say.”
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Brady Tkachuk (7) and Matthew Tkachuk (19) of the United States celebrate after their game against Team Canada during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026. (Geoff Burke/Image Images)
Tkachuk added that it was “fun” to be around the women’s team while in Milan.
“It was fun to watch them play, fun to see the excellence they brought to each game and how they are by far the best team in that tournament,” he said. “It was fun to see them after picking their brains. They were picking our brains, and it was fun to be around them.”
Tkachuk was asked a follow-up question about why he would laugh at Trump’s joke. Once again, he stood his ground.
“It was a dizzying moment. You can’t really control what someone says, and I guess it caught my attention. [us] a little bit off guard,” he said. “I mean, when you talk to the president 10 minutes after you’ve achieved your dream, just the fact that you’re talking to him,
“You really can’t believe where your life is at when you’re talking to the president of the United States after winning a gold medal.”
Tkachuk was with his U.S. teammates at Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the camera gave the team a standing ovation as the players showed off their Olympic gold medals.
The women’s team declined an invitation to Washington, D.C., citing “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.” Trump said in the State of the Union address that the women’s team will visit the White House “soon.”
Brady Tkachuk of the United States celebrates after winning the gold medal during the men’s gold medal match against Canada at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Stadium during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games on February 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images)
USA Hockey responded to Trump’s suggestion that the team would go to the White House.
“The players are back competing with their professional and college teams and are halfway through their season,” a USA Hockey spokesperson told Front Office Sports. “They are honored and grateful to be invited, and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude.”
While there has been a divide on social media over the moment, Ellen Hughes, the mother of Jack and Quinn Hughes, who played a role in Team USA’s fate in Milan as a member of the women’s team’s player development staff, did not seem bothered by Trump’s comments.
“These players, both men and women, can bring a lot of unity to a group and a country,” he told “Today.” “The people who cheer and don’t watch hockey, the people who have politics on one side or the other, and that’s all that matters to both the men’s and women’s teams.
Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators during warmups before a game against the Nashville Predators on October 13, 2025, at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (André Ringuette/NHLI)
“If you could see what we see from the inside, and the men and women sharing, you know, bedrooms and hallways and flexible floors and the camaraderie and the synergy and the way the women encouraged the men and the way the men encouraged the women, that’s what it’s all about,” she added.
“And the other things they can’t control. They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country.”
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