In the wake of President Donald Trump's Team USA women's hockey team joke surfaced after inviting the men's team to the State of the Union address after the Olympics, one of the team's captains, Hilary Knight, responded to it.
Speaking with reporters, Knight called Trump's joke “distasteful and unfortunate,” and she doesn't appear happy to have to answer questions about his behavior.
“Now I have to sit in front of you and explain someone else's behavior. It's not my responsibility,” Knight said, receiving a wave of support from the crowd.
“The joke was distasteful and unfortunate…Now I have to sit in front of you…and explain someone else's behavior. It's not my responsibility.”
– @TeamUSA captain and Torrent forward Hilary Knight on the call and joke by President Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/JgKz18fzi1
— KING 5 Sports (@KING5Sports) February 26, 2026
She wanted to shift the focus of the conversation to the accomplishments of the men's and women's teams. Team USA's men's and women's teams both won gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Knight wants that to be the center of the conversation, not Trump's joke.
“This was the best American women's hockey team, the best American team we've ever put together on a world stage when the lights have been the brightest ever,” Knight raved. “I think everybody felt that going through the tournament, and I want to celebrate. I want people to be remembered for that, I want the legacy of this team to be remembered, and so that's what I'm trying to shift the narrative on and really focus [on] championing what we've done and what we've accomplished the last two and a half weeks together.”
The joke Donald Trump made to Team USA's men's team about the women's team while inviting them to the State of the Union address
During a phone call between the men's team and Trump, the president quipped that “we’re gonna have to bring the women’s team, you do know that?” which made them laugh.
He went one step further. Trump joked, “I do believe that I would probably be impeached” if he didn't invite the women's team to the State of the Union address.
The women's team declined the invitation to attend the State of the Union address. They were “sincerely grateful” for the invitation. However, the team cited “the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments” as the reason they couldn't attend.
