Hughes brothers and Tage Thompson slammed for White House wardrobe choice

What was meant to be a simple celebration of Team USA’s Olympic gold medal has quickly become a flashpoint for debate.

During Tuesday’s White House visit, several American players were photographed wearing campaign merchandise linked to President Donald Trump, and the images spread rapidly online. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman appeared alongside brothers Jack Hughes and Quinn Hughes, as well as Tage Thompson and Connor Hellebuyck, in photos with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

In the images, Quinn and Jack Hughes and Thompson were seen wearing bright red caps associated with Trump’s 2024 campaign. Thompson’s hat displayed the “MAGA” slogan (“Make America Great Again”), while Jack Hughes wore a white version of the campaign-style cap. The optics immediately drew mixed reactions across social media, with some praising the gesture and others criticising it as unnecessarily political.

The White House invitation followed a locker-room phone call from Trump after the Americans’ dramatic overtime victory over Canada — their first Olympic men’s hockey gold since 1980. That call had already stirred discussion after remarks about the U.S. women’s team prompted criticism and awkward laughter in the room.

Notably, five of the 25 American players who competed in Italy — Brock Nelson, Jackson LaCombe, Jake Guentzel, Jake Oettinger and Kyle Connor — did not attend the White House visit.

For many fans, the hope was that the gold medal triumph would remain solely about hockey. Instead, the imagery from the visit shifted the narrative. What should have been a week centred on a championship celebration has once again become entangled in politics — and opinions remain sharply divided over whether it needed to be.