JUST IN: U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Turns Down Trump Invite to State of the Union

Photo by JMP/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)

The gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team has turned down President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

The report from NBC News comes a day after Trump jokingly lamented that he would have to invite the women along, too, since the men accepted.

Trump extended the invitation on a phone call to the men’s locker room following their gold medal win against Canada on Sunday.

“And we have to, I must tell you, we’re gonna have to bring the woman’s team,” Trump said, causing the players to laugh as one player exclaimed off-screen, “Two for two!”

Trump added, “I do believe I would probably be impeached,” if he didn’t invite the women along.

The women’s team also took home gold against Canada, but it wasn’t clear whether Trump placed a locker room call after their victory.

“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 told NBC News. “Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate.”

The spokesperson added, “They were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgment.”

The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News’s request for comment.

On Monday, Fox News’s Chad Pergram reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was “trying to work out logistics” to have both teams at the address to Congress.

Pergram quoted Johnson as saying, “We’ve got to figure out logistics. There’s no way to have special guests on the floor because it’s a literal session of Congress, and you know that’s what’s good about rules.”

Johnson continued, “But we’re going to work and do what we can to accommodate. We certainly want to have them here for the celebration. It’s quite a feat. The men’s and women’s hockey teams. We’re trying to work out logistics to see if there’s some way to perhaps get them into the gallery and the doors, wave and receive the applause that they’re [sic] due. We’re working on logistics,” Pergram wrote.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!