American Patriotism at the Milan Olympics in the Age of Trump

Every Olympic Games opens with a patriotic parade featuring all the athletes, each team entering the stadium waving their national flag. At the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, the United States of America athlete delegation was greeted with cheers and applause. However, when the cameras cut to Vice President JD Vance in the stands, the audience’s sounds of support quickly morphed into prolonged boos and jeers. 

This negative response to the American Vice President reflects the current sense of unease generally held by most Europeans in regards to the Trump Administration and its foreign policy. During President Donald Trump’s second term, there has been a clear shift in U.S. policy, marked by aggressive attempts to annex Greenland, tensions with NATO and wavering support for Ukraine. Europeans now appear to be not only overwhelmingly distrustful and scrutinous of the U.S. government, but seemingly symbols of American patriotism as well. And it’s not only Europeans that feel this way, many Americans themselves are increasingly unhappy with the current Trump administration.

American athletes are now caught between previous expectations of uncritical patriotism during the Olympics, with politicians like JD Vance instructing them to just “play their sport” and not “pop off about politics”, and a new reality in which both global audiences, as well as many Americans, question what the flag truly represents. 

The controversy surrounding the Trump Administration and the Olympics worsened after the U.S. men’s hockey team won gold for the first time in 46 years. A video quickly surfaced online of the team receiving a congratulatory phone call from President Trump. During this call they laughed along to a seemingly misogynistic joke made by the President as he claimed he would “have to” invite the gold medal winning women’s hockey team to the White House as well. The men’s hockey team ultimately accepted the invite and attended President Trump’s State of the Union address, which was viewed as a heavily politicized event.

The U.S. men’s hockey team has faced significant backlash following the circulation of these videos. The players have been labelled as sexist and degrading, and have been criticized for not standing up to President Trump when he made inappropriate comments. They’ve received even further condemnation for accepting the President’s invitation to the White House.

Historically, it is quite common for gold medal winning American athletes to accept congratulatory phone calls from the President, or to even visit the White House. But in this political climate, everything is polarized. Whether intentional or not, these celebrations now carry a political weight. Proximity to President Trump or the White House can be easily seen as an endorsement of his policies. 

So this begs the question: how are American athletes supposed to navigate patriotism in this political climate? Are they still simply playing on behalf of their nation, or do they now serve as direct representatives of their government and the President? As public figures, is it their job to stand up for what’s “right”? There is a blurred boundary emerging now that didn’t exist previously. 

When asked about the U.S. men’s hockey team’s decision to visit the White House, star player Jack Hughes enthusiastically declared their excitement. “Yeah, we’re excited,” he said. “Everything is so political. We’re athletes. We’re so proud to represent the U.S. 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.”

For Hughes, and the rest of the men’s hockey team, it seems that patriotism is represented through unwavering support for your country despite its faults. However, for many other athletes, patriotism seems to mean dissent when necessary, as love for your country does not have to mean it is exempt from criticism. In fact, sometimes loving your country means you have an obligation to fight for it when you disagree with what it’s doing. 

The U.S. women’s hockey team, for example, declined President Trump’s invitation to the White House.

When asked what it’s like to represent the U.S. in the Olympics given its current political situation, freestyle skier Hunter Hess responded that it brings up “mixed emotions” and is “a little hard” for him. “There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t,” he said. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn, who identifies as queer, also criticized President Trump at the Games, stating that she will not visit the White House either following her team’s gold medal, as his administration has made it “a hard time for the [LGBTQ+] community.”

This dissent from American athletes towards the President and his administration during these Games marks a stark contrast from the political climate during the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In the summer of 2024, Joe Biden was the President of the United States and Kamala Harris’ campaign for presidency was taking the country by storm. Discussion surrounding American politics will always occur on some level at prominent international events like the Olympics, but in Paris it was taking place on a much smaller scale. The Biden administration was considered to be much more aligned with the traditional democratic values of the U.S., so American athlete activism was typically more focused on widespread social issues and international conflicts than targeted at the White House specifically.  

Now, coverage in the U.S. of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics has seemingly been dominated by political commentary and statements from American athletes on the situation within their country. There’s been a significant decline in unbolstered patriotism from fans as well. Many Americans now feel uneasy about waving the flag as defiantly as before. 

The culture of being an American athlete has changed dramatically as the political climate in the U.S. has grown more tense and polarized. Representing the U.S. now holds a different weight, leaving athletes at a crossroads. Do they succumb to the Trump administration’s definition of patriotism – blind loyalty to the country with a priority for a unified appearance above all else? Or, do they dictate that true patriotism and love for one’s country is rooted in the ability to criticize it and the determination to fix its flaws? 

Photo source: WikiCommons