Donald Trump claimed during his lie-packed State of the Union address this week that the U.S. women’s ice hockey team — whom he recently sparked backlash over with what critics called a “distasteful” joke — would, after all, be heading to the White House to celebrate their gold medal win at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
But one of the team’s biggest stars didn’t exactly confirm that.
On Thursday’s episode of CNN’s “The Story Is With Elex Michaelson,” anchor Elex Michaelson asked MVP Caroline Harvey whether the invitation was “true” and if a date had been set.
Harvey, a defenseman for the University of Wisconsin, said she was “unsure.”
“I’m not sure,” the athlete continued. “Obviously, right now we’re all back with our respective teams, pro or college. But I haven’t heard any word on that.”
Michaelson then asked whether she would attend if invited.
She replied: “I mean, I’m just busy right now with school and obviously, like you said, we’ve got a championship to win here, and we’ve got a lot of stuff ahead of us.”
“So, personally, I need to finish out school and take care of business in that way,?” she added. “But, yeah, I feel like I have my hands pretty tied right now.”
Harvey’s response quickly drew attention online, where some commenters suggested it was a politely worded brush-off.
It came amid ongoing fallout over members of the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s team response to Trump’s call on Sunday, when the president joked about having to bring the equally successful women’s squad to the capital too or else he’d “be impeached.”
The men’s team visited the White House on Tuesday, when Trump tried on one of the gold medals, joked about keeping it and then served up McDonald’s to the squad.
