Washington — The gold-medal winning U.S. men’s hockey team is expected to appear at President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, House Speaker Mike Johnson said ahead of the speech.
In an exclusive interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil, Johnson said the team “will be there with their gold medals.”
“Logistics were a bit of a challenge last minute, but I think we’ll get that done,” Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said.
Mr. Trump invited the men’s and women’s hockey teams to his speech after the men defeated Canada 2-1 in the championship game at the Winter Olympics Sunday in Milan to secure gold. The U.S. women’s team also beat their Canadian rivals 2-1 last week to win Olympic gold.
The women’s team declined Mr. Trump’s invitation to attend the State of the Union, citing scheduling conflicts.
“Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate,” a USA Hockey spokesperson said in a statement. “They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”
The president spoke with the men’s team by phone shortly after the championship game and said he would send a “military plane or something” to Miami to pick them up and bring them to Washington for the speech.
Matthew Tkachuk, a forward on the men’s team, shared a photo to Instagram on Tuesday of him and other players standing outside a government plane. A White House aide also posted a photo of the team posing outside the White House.
Mr. Trump’s invitation to the hockey teams set off some logistical scrambling. Johnson said earlier Tuesday that while the State of the Union is a “very well-attended event” and the gallery in the House chamber is “already full,” he would figure out a way for the team to attend.
“Somehow, some way, we’ll squeeze in the hockey players tonight, and it’ll be a great moment for America, and it really is a symbol to all of us that we all play for America’s team, and I hope everybody will remember that tonight,” he said.
