{"id":340679,"date":"2026-02-24T22:19:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/president-trump-honors-team-usa-hockey-at-state-of-the-union-address"},"modified":"2026-02-24T22:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T03:19:17","slug":"president-trump-honors-team-usa-hockey-at-state-of-the-union-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/president-trump-honors-team-usa-hockey-at-state-of-the-union-address","title":{"rendered":"President Trump Honors Group USA Hockey At State of the Union Deal with"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<h2 class=\"article__header--headline-fragments\">\n             <span class=\"article__header--hf1 text-uppercase h3\">TEAM USA HOCKEY<\/span><br \/>\n             <span class=\"article__header--hf2 text-uppercase h1\">Trump Honors Gold Medalists at SOTU<\/span><br \/>\n             <span class=\"article__header--hf3 text-titlecase h2\">&#8230; And Awards Medal of Freedom!!!<\/span><br \/>\n           <\/h2>\n<p>    <!--\/.social-media-container--><\/p>\n<p>\n                                    Published <time class=\"published-datetime\" datetime=\"2026-02-24T18:53:51-08:00\"><br \/>\n               February 24, 2026<br \/>\n              6:53 PM PST<\/time>\n                                      <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<section id=\"cb-90f5c21f054a214b4635b893e33b93b1\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-video-block canvas-video-block-permalink canvas-video-block--default canvas-block-is-first \">\n<div class=\"video-block\">\n<div class=\"ratio ratio-16x9\">\n<div id=\"video-player-7e6e429f-eead-49d4-9f8d-de91a3977ea2-316962430-image-holder\" class=\"ratio ratio-item video-block__image-holder\">\n     <button class=\"ratio-item icon-video--shadow video-block__icon\" id=\"video-player-7e6e429f-eead-49d4-9f8d-de91a3977ea2-316962430-play-btn\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Play video content<\/span><br \/>\n     <\/button><br \/>\n          <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Hellebuyck\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/07\/16by9\/2026\/02\/25\/07d5d3a433234a0f976c3de004a0c1dd_md.jpg\" alt=\"022426_state_of_the_union_team_usa.01_01_48_07\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/>\n         <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>          <span class=\"media-credit video-block__media-credit\">The White House<\/span>\n     <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-90f5c21f054a214b4635b893e33b93b1--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-db5604321cc44d9e3a4d600afa35f6be\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/donald-trump\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>Donald Trump<\/strong><\/a> just introduced the U.S. men&#8217;s hockey team as his special guests at the State of the Union address on Tuesday &#8212; showing the gold medal winners grinning from ear-to-ear.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-db5604321cc44d9e3a4d600afa35f6be--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-517b4cdba9e56a4ab57b2aa385069ddd\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>They were honored for about five minutes full of applause, cheers and U-S-A chants that rang throughout the Capital building. Trump congratulated them &#8212; and noted it was the first time he saw Democrats rise from their seats.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-517b4cdba9e56a4ab57b2aa385069ddd--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-12380495df32d0f4ec3eb6b536b2b03f\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>&#8220;Here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud,&#8221; he said as the team entered the House chamber.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-12380495df32d0f4ec3eb6b536b2b03f--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-a1003b84e41dfe5c4deba336bce739e3\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-image-block--default \">\n<div class=\"image-block\">\n         <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260225_30cd0d9e074f4ea3bcb3f2f4bda7aa77\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:8359b5d5-166e-482b-8b32-831a632cb79c\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrapper\">\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/30\/4by3\/2026\/02\/25\/30cd0d9e074f4ea3bcb3f2f4bda7aa77_md.jpg\" alt=\"Connor Hellebuyck getty 1\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<p>         <\/a>\n   <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-a1003b84e41dfe5c4deba336bce739e3--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-9f8d622dc6efd4d93e52edf592c300de\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>Trump also congratulated the U.S. women\u2019s team for its gold medal \u2026 saying they \u201csoon will be coming to the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-9f8d622dc6efd4d93e52edf592c300de--><br \/>\n<a id=\"continued\" class=\"continued-anchor\"\/><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-e1685e015ff5d6d947fa9813e5a51600\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>He then took a moment to single out goalie <strong>Connor Hellebuyck <\/strong>&#8212;<strong> <\/strong>who he says the team nominated to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-e1685e015ff5d6d947fa9813e5a51600--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-9fa55f75d22acfc088bbebdbd7df576d\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>\u201cThink of it 46 shots on goal &#8212; and I ask him, \u2018The one shot where you put your stick in the back and it bounced off, did you practice that? Or was it a little lucky?\u2019\u201d Trump said, playfully noting that Hellebuyck refused to answer the question.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-9fa55f75d22acfc088bbebdbd7df576d--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-1bfe31864587c68b0ead6daabb651921\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-image-block--default \">\n<div class=\"image-block\">\n         <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260225_06af2d0d4f084b84a6a8402db332b035\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:8359b5d5-166e-482b-8b32-831a632cb79c\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrapper\">\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imagez.tmz.com\/image\/06\/4by3\/2026\/02\/25\/06af2d0d4f084b84a6a8402db332b035_md.jpg\" alt=\"Connor Hellebuyck getty 3\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<p>         <\/a>\n   <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-1bfe31864587c68b0ead6daabb651921--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-f7729c8d60471d1cca8588a43d6760e1\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>POTUS made the promise just minutes after the Red, White and Blue won the overtime thriller over Canada on Sunday &#8230; telling the guys he&#8217;d love to have them experience his speech in person, while also joking he had to invite the gold medal-winning women&#8217;s team too, or he&#8217;d be impeached.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-f7729c8d60471d1cca8588a43d6760e1--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-ea28caec8488ef9c5226656ec8689514\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>There has been some controversy around Team USA fanboying over Trump &#8230; but as Olympic hero <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/jack-hughes\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>Jack Hughes<\/strong><\/a> put it, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/02\/24\/jack-hughes-defends-womens-team-trump-phone-call\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>their focus is on patriotism<\/strong><\/a>, not politics.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-ea28caec8488ef9c5226656ec8689514--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-c2b043a65ac342e6430101cd7936be79\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-twitter-tweet-block canvas-twitter-tweet-block-permalink canvas-twitter-tweet-block--default \">\n<div id=\"cb-c2b043a65ac342e6430101cd7936be79-1049862916-target\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>\n   \ud83d\udea8BREAKING: Reporter ask Team USA hockey star Jack Hughes \u201cAre you excited to go to the White House to meet Trump?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah we\u2019re excited!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Everything is so political. We&#8217;re athletes, we&#8217;re proud to represent the US. And when you get the chance to go the White House to meet the\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VHP3LJzbWY\">pic.twitter.com\/VHP3LJzbWY<\/a><br \/>\n       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KMGGaryde\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@KMGGaryde<\/a>\n     <\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-c2b043a65ac342e6430101cd7936be79--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-2302d9c8c92367464817aa2acbc9f309\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>The backlash didn&#8217;t derail the squad from their festivities &#8230; which included a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/02\/24\/us-mens-hockey-celebrates-miami-e11even-winning-gold\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>trip to E11EVEN in Miami<\/strong><\/a> before hopping on an Air Force jet to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/02\/24\/usa-hockey-flight-washington-military-plane\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>get to the White House<\/strong><\/a> for a tour.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-2302d9c8c92367464817aa2acbc9f309--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-a19d4ea0113f5bb69de189be868c233e\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>The gang even had some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/02\/24\/usa-mens-hockey-meet-with-president-donald-trump-at-white-house\/\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>one-on-one time<\/strong><\/a> with Trump in the Oval Office &#8230; but several players opted out of the trip altogether.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-a19d4ea0113f5bb69de189be868c233e--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-dd3505419fbebe9197d8bd172eac637e\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink canvas-text-block--default canvas-block-is-last \" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;text_block&quot;}\">\n<p>Now that Trump&#8217;s SOTU speech is in the books &#8230; it&#8217;s time for these Olympic superstars to get back to their day jobs in the NHL.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-dd3505419fbebe9197d8bd172eac637e--><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/> <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/02\/24\/president-trump-usa-hockey-state-of-the-union\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TEAM USA HOCKEY Trump Honors Gold Medalists at SOTU &#8230; And Awards Medal of Freedom!!! Published February 24, 2026 6:53 PM PST Play video content [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":340682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18544,18183,1578,609,242,18535,8018,173,18125,4352],"class_list":["post-340679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hellebuyck","tag-jack-hughes","tag-miami","tag-president","tag-reporter","tag-state-of-the-union","tag-the-nhl","tag-united-states","tag-usa-hockey","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":340681,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340679\/revisions\/340681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}