The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team could have its biggest fan in the crowd — should it advance to the gold-medal game at the Winter Games.
President Donald Trump reportedly is planning to fly into Milan to watch the American team play in the final, which is set for Sunday and is one of the final events before the Olympic closing ceremony.
According to
a report by Italian news outlet Corriere Della Dea
, local police already have started to put together security plans for the president’s potential arrival.
While the U.S. team is favoured to reach the final — its odds to win the event were behind only Canada, prior to Wednesday’s quarterfinal action — the Americans will still need two more wins before clinching a spot in the gold-medal game.
According to the Italian outlet, Trump’s visit to Italy would be a very quick one.
The president reportedly would fly into Italy and head straight from Air Force One to the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena to take in the game. Trump would then make an appearance at the closing ceremony before immediately jetting off again. No overnight stay is currently planned for Trump.
Trump’s potential appearance comes after U.S. vice president JD Vance was jeered during the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.
JD Vance was booed at the opening ceremonies
Vance, who attended the event with wife Usha, received heavy boos and whistles when being shown on screens around the arena.
The couple also attended a few events and was spotted with Jake Paul during a race featuring the
YouTube star-turned-boxer’s fiancee, Jutta Leerdam
.
Despite the best attempts of organizers, there have been a few politically charged controversies during the Games in Milano-Cortina.
Prior to the start of the Olympics, there were protests in Milan over that staff from ICE — the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department — were involved in American security planning.
Several American athletes also made comments about the current political climate in the U.S., which led to Vance offering a blunt retort that
Olympians shouldn’t “pop off about politics.”
“Yes, you’re going to have some Olympic athletes who pop off about politics. I feel like that happens at every Olympics,” he said during an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
“My advice to them would be to try to bring the country together, and when you’re representing the country, you’re representing Democrats and Republicans. You’re there to play a sport, and you’re there to represent your country and hopefully win a medal. You’re not there to pop off about politics.”
How has Trump been received at sporting events?
Trump himself has not received many warm welcomes at sporting events recently.
He was loudly jeered when attending an NFL game hosted by the Washington Commanders — a team that the president is pushing to have their planned new stadium named after him.
He was also booed
in September and during his appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup in July.
The U.S. men’s hockey team
will face Sweden in the quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon
. The semifinals for the event are set for Friday with the gold-medal game taking place on Sunday morning at 8:10 a.m. ET.
