STRUGGLE SESSION: Canadian media GRILLS USA hockey hero Brady Tkachuk for laughing at Trump joke

Minutes after clinching gold at the Winter Games, players were in the locker room when Trump called in by speakerphone. During the call, he invited the team to the White House and to Tuesday’s State of the Union address. At one point, Trump said, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” adding that if he did not, “I do believe I’d probably be impeached.” The team laughed in response

The US women’s national team had also won gold, also defeating Canada in overtime. They were invited to attend, however, they declined due to "the timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments."

Speaking to reporters at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Tkachuk said the team had just achieved a lifelong goal when the call came in. “I don’t really have an answer,” he said when asked about the reaction. “Honestly, it was just a whirlwind of a moment, and you can’t control what somebody says and… I guess caught off guard a little bit.”

“When you’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you just achieve your dream, it’s just the fact that you’re talking to him. You can’t really believe where your life’s at that you’re talking to the president of the United States after you just won a gold medal.”

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Tkachuk also denied that he was the player heard saying “close the northern border” in the clip circulating online.

“I have seen stuff that people think it’s me. If you watch the video, that’s not my voice and it’s something that I’d never say,” he said.

He further addressed a social media post from the official White House TikTok account that used an AI-edited video appearing to show him making derogatory remarks about Canada.

“It’s clearly fake. It’s not my voice and not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts and I know that those words never came out of my mouth, so I can’t do anything about it.”

Teammate Jake Sanderson called the team’s reaction “a mistake.”

“Looking back at it now, I think it was a mistake, but I think things got blown out of proportion a little bit,” Sanderson said. “We have nothing but the utmost respect for the women.”