USA hockey hero Jack Hughes reacts to Donald Trump’s White House invite after crushing Canada for Olympic gold

Hours after the USA men’s hockey team made history at the 2026 Winter Olympics, President Donald Trump invited them to attend the State of the Union address in Washington.

While the invite itself wasn’t anything uncommon it’s the controversy it followed that took social media by storm. While the men’s hockey team accepted the invitation, the women’s team who also won gold at the games, declined the invite, citing “previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”

USA’s golden boy Jack Hughes, who scored the game-winner in OT against rivals Canada, didn’t hide his excitement though regarding the White House invite and a chance to meet the President.

While speaking to The Daily Post on Monday during a celebratory team gathering in Miami, the 24-year-old said he was looking forward to meet the president.

“We’re so proud to represent the US, and when you get the chance to go to the 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 New Jersey Devils star also didn’t hide his frustration regarding the recent online backlash after accepting the invite.

“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.”

Hughes even went on to dismiss any potential rift between the USA’s men’s and women’s teams following the controversy and acknowledged their scheduling conflict.

“They’ve got busy schedules, too. Our relationship with them, over the course of being in the Athletes’ Village, I think we are so tight with their group.”

Jack Hughes’ Instagram Following Soars Past 1 Million Overnight After Olympic OT Winner

Jack Hughes has officially crossed the 1 million follower mark on Instagram, less than 24 hours after sitting in the 600k range.

At the time of writing, Jack Hughes’ recent post, celebrating the Olympic gold in collaboration with his brother Quinn, has crossed over 1.3M likes and 93.6k shares.

The spike comes in the wake of his game-winning goal against Canada in the Olympic gold medal clash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

After the US men’s team finally ended their 46-year wait for Olympic gold, fans rushed to follow the American forward, pushing his Instagram account past the seven-figure milestone almost overnight.