Topics: Donald Trump, Olympics, Ice Hockey
Donald Trump has received backlash for his behaviour after meeting with the Olympic gold medal winning US ice hockey team.
After an impressive two weeks of competing in Italy, many of the United States' Olympic athletes returned home this week to celebrate their success.
In total, Team USA took home 33 medals, including 12 golds, putting them second on the medal table only behind Norway who won 41 medals and 18 golds.
Among the biggest winners at the Games was the victorious US Olympic men’s ice hockey team, who claimed gold for first time in 46 years with a win over rivals Canada.
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As part of their celebrations, the team were invited to the White House to meet Trump personally in the oval office, but people aren't exactly impressed with how the US President behaved.
Despite the Canadians dominating most of the match, Jack Hughes sealed the victory for the US in overtime, securing gold for his country for the first time since 1980.
Shortly after, Trump invited the team to celebrate with him in Washington, with all but five of the 25 members of the roster accepting.
“I recognise every one of you. I know every one of you,” Trump said to the players as they arrived.
After meeting the players, Trump shared a moment with Matthew Tkachuk, who offered the President his gold medal to try on in a lighthearted moment.
"I’m not giving it back," Trump declared as he wrapped the Olympic medal around his neck.
However, the moment didn't exactly go down well with some on social media, with some pointing out that Trump behaved in a similar way when presenting Chelsea with the Club World Cup last summer.
Reacting to the footage, one fan wrote on X: "He is obsessed - obsessed - with taking other people’s prizes and medals. Never seen anything like it."
Another agreed, adding: "This guy loves awards he didn’t earn."
With another writing: "I’ve never seen another adult get so excited about holding, wearing, (stealing in some cases) other people’s trophies and medals. Just an absolute loser."
The five players who were absent from the meeting with Trump were Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel, Jake Oettinger and Kyle Connor.
Although it is not known exactly why each of the players declined, Nelson, Lacombe, Guentzel and Oettinger were born in Minnesota, which has been subject to a severe immigration crackdown by the Trump administration in recent months.
The US women's team, who also won gold in a final against Canada, was also invited by declined due to “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments”.
However, during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, attended by some of the U.S. Olympic men’s team, Trump claimed that the women's team would later be visiting the White House.
“They (the men's team( beat a fantastic Canadian team in overtime as everybody saw, as did the American women, who will soon be coming to the White House,” Trump said inside the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol.
