The U.S. women’s hockey team said it is declining President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend his State of the Union address, citing scheduling conflicts for teammates following the Olympic Games.
“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,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said according to NBC News. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”
“They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment,” the spokesperson added.
The U.S. team beat Canada for the gold medal in Thursday’s Olympic women’s hockey final.
The U.S. men’s hockey team also won gold on Sunday against Canada.
President Trump invited the men’s team to the White House during a phone call after the dramatic overtime victory.
FBI Director Kash Patel was present with the team during the celebration and held his phone up on speaker so the players could hear the president’s message directly.
“I’ll tell you what. I just told my people two minutes ago, I didn’t know they’d be calling, I said we’re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night,” Trump said. “I can send a military plane or something, but if you would like to, it’s the coolest night, it’s the biggest speech …”
Before the president could finish the invitation, one player responded enthusiastically: “We’re in.”
“We’ll get Kash, and we’ll get the military to get you guys over,” Trump continued. “You won’t have to worry about the weather or landing. We don’t care if it’s snowing or if it’s the worst blizzard – we’ll be sailing through like you did on the ice.”
Trump also said he would honor the team again the following day with additional medals and recognition, adding that the women’s team would be invited to participate in the celebration as well.
While inviting the men’s team the President also said, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that.”
Trump joked that if he were to leave the women’s team out, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”
