Why Trump's joke about US women's hockey team is more dangerous than it seems

On Sunday (22 February), the world watched on as the United States won the men's Olympic ice hockey gold medal for the first time in 46 years.

The men's team beat neighbours Canada 2-1 in a high-energy conclusion to the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The women's team, however, also took home gold with a 2-1 win in their respective match against Canada on Thursday (19 February).

But it wasn't just the action on the ice that we were watching, as, whether we wanted to see or not, the world was taken into a space they wouldn't usually have such unrestricted access to: the men's locker room.

Now, I'm sure we're all too familiar with 'locker room talk' discourse. Some may remember, a decade back in 2016, that a certain politician's illuminating comments made about women were leaked to the public.

"I’m automatically attracted to beautiful [...] I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait," Trump was heard saying on the tape. "And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

"Grab 'em by the p*ssy. You can do anything."

The clip, from 2005, was part of unaired footage ahead of Trump's appearance on the US soap opera Days of Our Lives.

His comments were quickly dismissed as a matter of 'locker room talk' - AKA things that men say around other men, which, supposedly, doesn't actually mean anything and shouldn't be looked into 'too much'.

Some other familiar justifications brushing off the severity of such remarks include 'it's just a joke', 'it's just talk', 'stop taking things so seriously', 'get a sense of humour' and 'it's not that deep'.

And that's exactly what we've seen play out with the latest Olympics scandal, which, funnily enough, quite literally took place inside a men's locker room.

What did Trump say about the women's hockey team?

Footage from the men's victory celebration has since circled across social media, showing FBI Director Kash Patel chugging a bottle of beer, holding up a phone as Trump called to congratulate the team.

During the call, the 79-year-old Republican offered to fly the team to Washington for Tuesday’s (24 February) State of the Union address, with a White House visit planned for the next day.

"We’re giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I could send a military plane or something, if you would like to. It’s the coolest night. It’s the biggest speech," he said over speakerphone to cheers and shouts of 'we’re in'.

It took less than a few seconds of speaking for Trump to then launch into a completely unprovoked attack on the women's team.

"And we have to - I must tell you - we’re going to have to bring the women’s team," he said as several team members burst into hysterics before Trump concluded: "[If I don’t] do that, I do believe I probably would be impeached, OK?"

Mind you, this is the same Trump who claims to be protecting women in sports while repeatedly discriminating against the trans community.

Outrage over Trump's comments and the men's team's response

Despite the fact that the women's team have secured the most gold medals for the United States for three Olympic seasons in a row, that they have also beat the same nation the men's team did with the exact same score in these Games and the fact that, since 1998, the women have never ever missed the podium or the fact that the men just won their first gold medal since 1980 - they still got the p*ss taken out of them.

People were stunned after seeing the leader of the country for which the women's team won gold so easily invalidate their achievements and perpetuate such blatant misogyny. And seeing the male players' laughter at their teammates' expense was the disappointing cherry on top of a very unsettling situation.

Many were left outraged after catching light of the behind-closed-doors scene, with people pointing out just how insidious both Trump's comments and the team's response were, with several people stating that, after all, laughter equals endorsement.

However, it is important to note that there were two men who did speak up following Trump's mockery.

One man, who isn't yet identified, immediately said 'absolutely' when the president quipped about the women 'having' to be at the address, while a second chanted 'two for two', which appears to be a celebration for the US winning gold on two fronts.

"Out of 10 men, one makes a joke at the expense of women, two laugh, three fake a chuckle to fit in, and four stay silent. None of them speak up. Later, nine of them still believe they're the 'good guys'. But from the woman's perspective, the laughter, the silence, the looking away, it all creates the same environment. Not all men hurt women, but most men help protect the system that does," wrote one TikTok user.

Another penned: "Men who haven't won a gold medal since 1980 laughing about inviting the women's team that has won a medal every year since the sport was introduced..."

And a third echoed: "As a boy mom watching the USA men's Olympic hockey team laugh at the expense of women and thinking about the hours and days and years their mothers spent driving them to practice, sitting in the stands watching them play, laundering their uniforms, buying them equipment just for all women's accomplishments to be laughed at on the world stage. May I raise men who celebrate rather than tear down."

Women's team 'response'

Several female players from the women's team themselves have even allegedly weighed in on the discourse.

Their reported reactions, shown through social media screenshots, came after Togethxr, a prominent women-athlete-owned media account, uploaded a quote which they attributed to much-loved comedian Tina Fey.

It read: "You can tell how smart people are by what they laugh at."

A screengrab of a post was later shared to Reddit, showing that a number of Team USA's women's hockey team had 'liked' the post.

This included Laila Edwards, Gwyneth Philips, and Taylor Heise.

'There is no room for misogyny in sport'

Women in Sport, a charity dedicated to transforming sport for the benefit of every woman and girl in the UK, has since explained to Tyla why Trump's joke is so much more dangerous than it would seem to those out there who think it's simply nothing more than that - a joke.

"For decades, women's team sport had been invisible," Stephanie Hilborne OBE, CEO of Women in Sport, told Tyla in a statement. "Now at last it is not, and we are finally able to celebrate the excitement, jeopardy and extraordinary brilliance of women competing in teams at the highest level.

"The USA women's ice hockey team is one of those great teams, and we stand in awe of their achievements. The commitment, teamwork, leadership and skill required to excel on the World stage is undeniable."

Hilborne concluded: "Leaders must recognise the equal value of men's and women’s team sport to society, whether to participants or spectators. There is no room for misogyny in sport – or society."

Men's team player speaks out

Jack Hughes, who scored the winning goal, has also spoken out on the matter, telling the Daily Mail: "Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today.

"People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing."

The 24-year-old athlete, who is the son of Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, the player development consultant for the US Women’s Hockey Team, continued: "Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Athletes' Village, I think we are so tight with their group.

"People are so negative about things. I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them and we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us."

When asked whether they were excited for their trip to meet Trump, Hughes reportedly added: "Yeah, we're excited. Everything is so political. We're athletes.

"We're so proud to represent the US, and when you get the chance to go to White House and meet the President, we're proud to be Americans, and that's so patriotic.

"No matter what your views are, we're super excited to go to the White House tomorrow and be a part of that."

The men's team celebrated with Trump at the address yesterday, but there were some notable absences.

Five of the 25 athletes invited didn't attend, including Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel, Jake Oettinger and Kyle Connor.

Connor, who plays for the Winnipeg Jets in Canada, said he skipped the White House visit to focus on the remainder of the NHL season, which resumes on Wednesday (25 February).

"I’m just getting ready. We play on Wednesday," he told The Athletic. "It’s a big second half, so I just wanted to make sure I was ready."

The other absentees are with teams also set to play on Wednesday (25 February).

Why did the women's team decline Trump's invite?

Ultimately, the women's team declined the invitation from Trump to attend his address on Tuesday.

"We are sincerely grateful for the invitation extended to our gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s Hockey Team and deeply appreciate the recognition of their extraordinary achievement," the team spokesperson said in a statement.

"Due to the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments following the Games, the athletes are unable to participate. They were honoured to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgement."

Trump later claimed the team 'will soon be coming to the White House', but their own stance remains fairly non-committal.

"Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the midst of their season," a spokesperson told Tyla. "They’re honoured and grateful to be invited and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude."

Tyla has previously reached out to the White House for comment.