Trump celebrates US Winter Olympians and Paralympians at the White House

Fantastic. Today, we're truly honored to welcome to the White House perhaps the greatest group of winter Olympians in American history. At the 2026 Olympic Games, Team USA won more gold medals than any American Winter Olympic team has ever won before. And what an amazing achievement. Not bad. That's not bad. And, you know, you produce the great Olympians today. They really can compete in college and all sports, every sport, producing 88 Team USA athletes. So last February, these incredible Olympians traveled to northern Italy, and they returned home to America wearing nine bronze medals, 12 silver medals, and a record 12 Winter Olympic goals. Nothing like that. That was the all-time record. These men and women sacrificed years of their lives and countless early mornings to be the best in the world. That's right. I guess you get up early in the morning, don't you? I remember those days, but I didn't do it as well as you. Not quite. It's really something. And they were early mornings, and they did it for the highest privilege in all of sports, wearing the red, white, and blue while representing those three proud letters on their uniform. It's called USA. And that's what you think. He's the president of the New York Yankees, and just so many. They all came together. The Big Ten, the SEC, and, of course, we can't forget and never would. And nobody would have the courage to forget either because they are amazing. The history-making women's hockey team, this team left all everything right on the ice, and they beat Canada and clinched the Olympic gold with with us today are two of the key contributors to that winning effort, Abby Murphy and Joy Dunn. And I want to thank you, Abby and Joy, for an incredible, really a memorable period of time. It was just an amazing time for our country. Under the Trump administration, we're doing everything we can to protect the cherished sporting traditions that have long been part of our nation from the beginning, right from the beginning. And already, we've done a lot to help save women's sports, and we're also saving college sports. We're in the process of working very hard. We had a bad judge's decision, and a judge who knew nothing about sports declared sports unconstitutional. Can you believe it? And we had to come and put something together, and we had the help of so many great people. They all came together. We have a bill right now that we're trying to get passed. And if it does, we'll be bringing sports back, and you'll all be protected, and your sports will be protected. And, frankly, women will be protected. Who is expecting and hoping to be in the Olympics, the next Olympics? Because, well, we're going to run that good like we did the world. On behalf of Team USA, we would like to gift you these keepsakes. We hope you'll wear them proudly as you continue to cheer on Team USA. I will be. Thank you very much.