Trump made the announcement as the Olympic team received a standing ovation at the State of the Union.
U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team goalie Connor Hellebuyck will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Trump announced during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.
Trump’s announcement comes two days after the team defeated Canada to win the Olympic gold medal, leading the president to invite the team to attend his address.
The president said the country is “winning so much” under his leadership “that we really don’t know what to do about it.” He claimed people tell him, “We’re winning too much.”
“And I say, ‘No, no, no, you’re going to win again. You’re going to win big. You’re going to win bigger than ever,” he said. “And to prove that point, here with us tonight, is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The men’s gold medal Olympic hockey team.”
Trump went on to say the team had “never seen a goaltender play as well as goalie Connor Hellebuyck.”
“I just want to tell you that the members of this great hockey squad, based on their vote and my vote — and in this case my vote was more important — that I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor ….the presidential medal of freedom,” Trump said.
Hellebuyck was jokingly dubbed the “Secretary of Defense” during the Games in Milan after turning in a historic performance in net. He sported a plaque with the title during an Air Force flight to Washington D.C., to meet Trump in the Oval Office ahead of the SOTU address.
“It’s a dream come true,” Hellebuyck told NBC after the gold medal winning game. “We grinded, we battled, and this was some of the best and most fun hockey that I’ve ever played.”
Though the team made U.S. history as the first American men’s hockey team to win Olympic gold since 1980, the players have faced political controversy since they won, after videos leaked to reporters showed the team partying with FBI Director Kash Patel in the locker room after the game. Trump phoned in via Patel and told the team, “We are giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I can send a military plane or something, but if you would like to (come) … we’ll get Kash or we’ll get the military to come get you over.”
“We have to, I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you do know that. [If not], I do believe I would probably be impeached,” he said, to laughter from the team.
Critics have accused the men’s team of sexism for laughing at the remark, while anti-Trump figures have questioned their decision to accept the president’s invitation to the address.
The women’s team was invited to attend the speech, but declined “due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games.” Trump said during his address on Tuesday that the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team would also “soon be coming to the White House.”
Players on the men’s team have defended the phone call and their decision to attend the address.
“Everyone is giving us backlash for all of the social media stuff today, but it’s so negative,” Jack Hughes, who scored the winning goal, told the Daily Mail. “People are so negative out there, and they are trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing. Everyone in that locker room knows how much we support (the women’s team), how proud we are of them, and the same way we feel about them, we know they feel that way about us.”
Hughes separately lamented the fact that “everything is so political.”
“We’re athletes,” he said. “We’re so proud to represent the U.S., and when you get the chance to go to the White House, meet the president, you know, we’re proud to be Americans, that’s so patriotic. No matter what your views are, we’re super excited to go to the White House and just be part of that.”