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Brady Tkachuk is back with his Ottawa Senators, and he held his own against a question about the viral moment when Team USA mocked a joke by President Donald Trump about the women’s ice hockey team during a phone call after both teams won gold medals in Milan.
As players like Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman admitted, players “should have reacted differently.”
Tkachuk responded to a reporter’s question about when Trump said he “should” invite the women’s team, which also beat Canada in the Olympics, to Tuesday’s State of the Union meeting or he “would probably be impeached.”
“Yes, I understand,” Tkachuk said when asked by a reporter if he understood the women’s team was unhappy with the men’s team’s reaction. “I don’t have any comments other than the things we can control. We supported them. They supported us. We can’t control what other people say.”
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Brady Tkachuk (7) and Matthew Tkachuk (19) of the United States celebrate after their match against Team Canada during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 22, 2026. (Geoff Burke/Imagn Images)
Tkachuk added that it was “fun” to be with the women’s team in Milan.
“It was fun to watch them play, fun to see the excellence they brought to every game and how they are, by far, the best team in this tournament,” he said. “It was just fun to see them after they picked their brains. They were picking our brains, and it was just fun to be with them.”
Tkachuk was asked a follow-up question about why he would laugh at Trump’s joke. Once again, he held his ground.
“It was a whirlwind moment. You can’t really control what someone says, and I guess it took [us] a little off guard,” he said. “I mean, when you’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you’ve achieved your dream, it’s just the fact that you’re talking to him,
“You can’t really believe where your life is when you’re talking to the President of the United States after winning a gold medal.”
Tkachuk was with his U.S. teammates during Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the chamber gave the team a standing ovation as players presented their Olympic gold medals.
The women’s team declined an invitation to Washington, D.C., citing “previously planned academic and professional commitments.” Trump said during the State of the Union address that the women’s team would be heading to the White House “soon.”
Brady Tkachuk of the United States celebrates after winning the gold medal during the men’s gold medal game against Canada at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 22, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images)
USA Hockey responded to Trump’s suggestion that the team travel to the White House.
“Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the middle of their season,” a USA Hockey spokesperson told Front Office Sports. “They are honored and grateful to be invited, and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedule once their season is over.”
Although there was division on social media over the issue, Ellen Hughes, the mother of Jack and Quinn Hughes, who played a role in Team USA’s plight in Milan as a member of the women’s team’s player development team, did not seem bothered by Trump’s comments.
“These players, men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and a country,” she told “Today”. “The people who cheered don’t watch hockey, the people who have politics one way or the other, and that’s all the men’s team and the women’s team care about.
Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators during warmups before a game against the Nashville Predators on October 13, 2025, at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (André Ringuette/NHLI)
“If you could see what we see from the inside, and the men and women sharing, you know, the dorms and the hallways and the flexible floors and the camaraderie and the synergy and the way the women encourage the men and the way the men encourage the women, that’s what it’s all about,” she added.
“And the other things they can’t control. They care about humanity. They care about unity and they care about the country.”
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