About this rating
In February 2026, a video circulating on social media sites such as Instagram and TikTok claimed to show U.S. women’s ice hockey team captain Hilary Knight declining an invitation to the White House from U.S. President Donald Trump.
A post shared by Morten Sivertsen (@mortensivertsen262)
Knight’s supposed response spread widely, and Snopes readers wrote in asking if the video was real. We found it was generated with artificial intelligence, and have rated this claim as a fake.
In the video, Knight supposedly claimed the team’s refusal was about more than scheduling conflicts (the reason reportedly given by the team for declining). “It’s about not accepting that the gold medal we earned with blood and sweat is being used as a tool for politicians to avoid trouble,” the voice, supposedly Knight’s, said.
But there were several discrepancies between that video and a Feb. 25 interview Knight gave “SportsCenter”. In the social media video, Knight spoke with strange pauses (or a lack thereof) and inflections that were not present in her interview on SportsCenter. The voices in the two videos also simply did not sound the same. This, and the poor overdubbing that was supposed to convince viewers that Knight was actually speaking the words, cemented the conclusion that the social media video was constructed with AI tools.
The video appeared after the end of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. During the Winter Games, both the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the gold medal. After the men’s victory, the team was videoed celebrating the win in their locker room with FBI Director Kash Patel, who called Trump.
During the phone call, Trump invited the men’s team to the White House and to his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, but warned he would “have to” bring the women’s team too, adding he would “probably would be impeached” if he did not, to laughter from the men’s team.
The video left a sour taste in some mouths, and people waited to see whether the women’s team would respond and accept the invitation. They declined, according to ESPN, with a statement saying the team was “sincerely grateful for the invitation” but could not attend due to scheduling conflicts.
In Knight’s real SportsCenter interview, she called the president’s words a “distasteful joke” that resulted in the women’s on-ice victories being overshadowed. “We’re really focused on celebrating all great things that have come out of the Olympics,” she said.
Hardinges, Laerke Christensen, Nick. “Video Shows Trump Saying He’d ‘have to’ Bring Women’s Hockey Team to White House.” Snopes, 24 Feb. 2026, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/us-hockey-trump-white-house/.
“Hilary Knight Responds to Trump’s Comment on Women’s Team.” ESPN.Com, 25 Feb. 2026, https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/48033965/hilary-knight-responds-trump-comment-women.
Izzo, Jack. “Posts Claim Kash Patel’s Flight to Milan Cost Taxpayers $400K. That Estimate Seems a Little High.” Snopes, 25 Feb. 2026, https://www.snopes.com//news/2026/02/25/kash-patel-olympic-hockey-flight/.
Staff, The Athletic NHL. “U.S. Players Respond to Criticism over Women’s Team, Trump Invite: ‘Should Have Reacted Differently.'” The New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7070799/2026/02/25/usa-hockey-olympics-trump-reaction/.
“U.S. Women’s Hockey Declines Trump Invite to State of the Union.” ESPN.Com, 23 Feb. 2026, https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/48017235/us-women-hockey-declines-trump-invite-state-union.
“‘Women Aren’t Less than’: Team USA Women’s Hockey Players Respond to Trump’s Joke.” NBC News, 26 Feb. 2026, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/women-arent-less-team-usa-womens-hockey-players-respond-trumps-joke-rcna260725.
Jack Izzo is a Chicago-based journalist and two-time “Jeopardy!” alumnus.
Company
Navigate
Sections
Account
© 1995 – 2026 by Snopes, Inc.
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com
Hockey News