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President Donald Trump announced Saturday who he will send to represent his presidential delegation at the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, northern Italy, next month.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha were chosen to lead the delegation.
Other members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, United States Ambassador to the Italian Republic Tilman Feritta, 2018 Olympic women’s ice hockey gold medalists Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, 2002 and 2006 speed skating gold medalist Apolo Ohno, and 2010 figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek.
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Trump’s delegation featuring two of the American ice hockey players who beat Canada to win gold comes at a time of national tension and heated rivalry with the neighboring nation.
American ice hockey gold medalists Jocelyne Lamoureux, left, and Monique Lamoureux-Morando after defeating Canada at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. (Harry Comment/Getty Images)
Several athletes competing for the upcoming U.S. Olympic women’s ice hockey team said they were ready to engage in physical combat with the Canadian players if the need arose.
American women’s hockey star Caroline Harvey said she was ready to fight and even hear Canadians boo “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Games.
“It’s expected, especially against Canada,” Harvey told PK Press Club Digital of potential booing of the anthem at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee media summit in October. “They don’t like us that much. So it’s more motivating than anything and, personally, it fuels the fire and makes us want to, you know, beat them more than ever.
AMERICAN HOCKEY STAR BRADY TKACHUK OPENS UP ON TRUMP’S PHONE CALL AHEAD OF 4 NATIONS FACE-OFF FINAL AGAINST CANADA
Members of the United States and Canadian women’s hockey teams battle during the IIHF Women’s World Championship on August 26, 2021, in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
“I don’t like them either. They’re respectable competitors, they’re so good and they always give us such a tough match, it’s so back and forth. But when we’re in the heat of battle, we always fight and don’t like them… It gets personal sometimes.”
Veteran teammate Kendall Coyne Schofield, a mother of a toddler and a self-described “lover, not a fighter,” told PK Press Club Digital in October that she suggested she would fight if the situation called for it.
“If I have to, I have to,” she said. “And I wouldn’t say that I’m not a fighter in the sense that I’ve fought for a lot of things in life. But I would just say that in general, fighting is not a strength in my game. But if I’m out there and I have to, you know, help my teammates, I will. But you won’t find me starting the fight, I can tell you that.”
Team USA and Canada women’s hockey players compete during the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
The delegation will represent Trump and the United States at a time when the administration has shown itself willing to use tariffs to buy Greenland and is overseeing regime change in Venezuela following the capture of its former leader Nicolás Maduro.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ruled out any exclusion or sanction against the United States at the next Winter Games.
“In a world racked by conflict and division, the International Olympic Committee remains firmly convinced that sport must remain a beacon of hope, a force that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. This is at the very heart of the Olympic Movement and flows from the fundamental principles of Olympism. This was reaffirmed by the IOC Executive Board in September 2025, the IOC said in a statement provided to PK Press Club Digital.
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“As a global organization, the IOC must manage a complex reality. With each edition of the Olympic Games, the IOC must face the current political context and the latest developments in the world. We have always managed to do this. The ability to bring together athletes, wherever they come from, is fundamental to the future of a truly global sport, based on values, which can give hope to the world.”
“For this reason, the IOC cannot get directly involved in political issues or conflicts between countries, because these do not fall within our competence. This is the domain of politics. Our role is to ensure that athletes can participate in the Olympic Games, regardless of their origin.”
