Trump sends a big message about the ice hockey rivalry between the United States and Canada with the selection of delegations for the Milan-Cortina Games
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President Donald Trump announced Saturday who he will send to represent his presidential delegation to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in northern Italy next month.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha have been chosen to lead the delegation.
The other members include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, United States Ambassador to the Italian Republic Tilman Feritta, 2018 Olympic women’s ice hockey gold medalists Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, 2002 and 2006 speed skating gold medalist Apolo Ohno, and figure skating gold medalist 2010, Evan Lysacek.
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Trump’s delegation with two of the U.S. ice hockey players who defeated Canada to win gold comes at a time of national tension and heated rivalry with the neighboring nation.
USA women’s ice hockey gold medal winners Jocelyne Lamoureux, left, and Monique Lamoureux-Morando after beating Canada at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. (Harry How/Getty Images)
Multiple athletes competing for the next U.S. women’s Olympic ice hockey team have said they are willing to engage in physical combat with players from Canada if necessary.
American women’s hockey star Caroline Harvey said she’s prepared to fight and even hear Canadians boo “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Games.
“It’s something to be expected, especially playing against Canada,” Harvey told News Digital of potential anthem boos at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee media summit in October. “They don’t like us very much. So it’s more motivating than anything else and, personally, it fuels the fire and makes us want to, you know, beat them more than ever.
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Members of the U.S. and Canadian women’s hockey teams fight during the IIHF Women’s World Championship, Aug. 26, 2021, in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
“I don’t like them either. They’re a respectable competitor, they’re very good and they always give us a very tough game, there’s a lot of back and forth. But when we get in the heat of the moment, we always fight and we don’t like them… Sometimes it gets personal.”
Veteran teammate Kendall Coyne Schofield, a mother of a young child and a self-described “lover, not a fighter,” told News Digital in October that she would suggest she would fight if the situation demanded it.
“If I have to do it, I have to do it,” he said. “And I wouldn’t say I’m not a fighter in the sense that I’ve fought for a lot of things in life. But I would just say that, in general, fighting is not a strength of my game. But if I’m out there and I have to, you know, help my teammates, I will. But you won’t find me starting the fight, I can tell you that.”
Team USA and Canada women’s hockey players battle during the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Calgary, Canada. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)
The delegation will represent Trump and the United States at a time when the administration has shown a willingness to use tariffs to buy Greenland and is overseeing a regime change in Venezuela after capturing its former leader Nicolás Maduro.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ruled out any exclusion or sanction against the United States in the next Winter Games.
“In a world shaken by conflict and division, the International Olympic Committee remains steadfast in its belief that sport must remain a beacon of hope, a force that brings together the entire world in peaceful competition. This is at the very heart of the Olympic Movement and derives from the Fundamental Principles of Olympism. This was again emphasized by the IOC Executive Board in September 2025, the IOC said in a statement provided to News Digital.
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“As a global organization, the IOC has to manage a complex reality. In each edition of the Olympic Games, the IOC has to deal with the current political context and the latest events in the world. We have always done this successfully. The ability to bring athletes together, no matter where they come from, is fundamental for the future of a truly global and values-based sport, which can give hope to the world.”
“For this reason, the IOC cannot get directly involved in political issues or conflicts between countries, as they are outside our competences. This is the realm of politics. Our role is to ensure that athletes can participate in the Olympic Games, no matter where they come from.”
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to Title IX enforcement and in mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The News and ESPN.com.