President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address on Tuesday to announce that he will present Connor Hellebuyck, goaltender for the Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the joint-highest honor civilian award that can be presented by the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal.
It was established in 1945 by President Harry S. Truman and renamed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Since then it has been awarded 674 times. Of these, around 43 have been presented to sporting figures.
Athletes who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden include soccer star Lionel Messi, basketball player Magic Johnson and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.
Since taking office for his second term, President Trump has also announced that Charlie Kirk, Rudy Giuliani and Ben Carson will receive the medal.
Trump made the shock announcement that Hellebuyck would be joining that list after bringing several members of the U.S. men’s hockey team into the Capitol during his State of the Union address.
The State of the Union address on Tuesday came just two days after the hockey team won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Italy, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime. It marked the first men’s hockey gold for the U.S. since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
Earlier in the day, the team met with President Trump at the White House. During the State of the Union, the president said he had invited the team to vote on whether Hellebuyck should receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and that they had unanimously agreed he should.
At one point during the White House meeting, winger Matthew Tkachuk offered to let Trump wear his gold medal.
“Yeah, I’ll put it on,” the president said while sitting behind the Resolute Desk. As he grabbed the award and draped it around his neck, he quipped, “I’m not giving it back,” eliciting laughter from the room.
Trump wasn’t the only one to be handed a token of appreciation following the Olympic victory. On Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Defense posted a photo on X of Hellebuyck holding a “Secretary of Defense” plaque. It was captioned “AMERICA’S SECRETARY OF DEFENSE!”
Trump also claimed during his State of the Union that the U.S. women’s hockey team — which also won the gold medal in Italy — would also be attending the White House.
It had previously been reported that the women’s hockey team declined the president’s White House invitation after audio emerged of him telling the men’s team that he’d face impeachment if he didn’t also invite the women.
