Milan — US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that it is difficult to encourage US Olympic athletes who speak out against the administration’s policies, calling one such critic a “real loser” who probably should have stayed home.
It was the latest and most high-profile example of US Olympians at the Milan-Cortina Games sparking online backlash with their words.
On Friday, reporters asked American athletes at a press conference how it felt to represent the country during the Trump administration Tighten immigration enforcement procedures. Freestyle skier Hunter Hess responded that he has mixed feelings because he does not agree with the situation, and that he is in Milan competing on behalf of everyone who helped him reach the Games.
“If it aligns with my moral values, then I feel like I represent him,” Hess said. “Just because I wear the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that happens in the United States.”
Among those who piled on Hess was Jake Paul, the YouTuber turned boxer.
“Of all true Americans, if you don’t want to represent this country, go live somewhere else,” he wrote on X, which has 4.4 million followers. Minutes later, he was photographed Sitting next to US Vice President J.D. Vance At a US women’s hockey game in Olympic host city Milan.
Trump said the next day that Hice’s comments made it difficult to support him.
“Hess, the real loser, says he’s not representing his country at this Winter Olympics. If so, he shouldn’t try out for the team, and it’s too bad he’s in,” he wrote on his Truth Social account.
At Friday’s press conference with athletes, freestyle skier Chris Lillis pointed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying he was “heartbroken” about what’s happening in the United States.
“I think we, as a country, need to focus on respecting everyone’s rights and making sure that we treat our citizens like everyone else, with love and respect,” Lillis said. “I hope that when people look at the athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that this is the America we are trying to represent.”
American figure skater Amber Glenn said the LGBTQ+ community faced a difficult time during the Trump administration.
In addition to Paul, conservative figures criticizing athletes on social media include former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, actor Rob Schneider and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds — whom Trump supported in Florida’s governor’s race in November. There was a flood of vitriol directed at them from ordinary Americans.
Glenn posted on Instagram that she received a “scary amount of hate/threats for simply using my voice when asked how I feel.” She added that she would start limiting her use of social media for her own well-being.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday that it is aware of an increasing amount of offensive and harmful messages directed toward athletes, and is making every effort to remove content and report credible threats to law enforcement.
“The USOPC stands firmly behind our Team USA athletes and remains committed to their well-being and safety, on and off the field,” she said.
Support for the United States abroad has eroded as the Trump administration pursues an aggressive foreign policy stance, including imposing tariffs, military action in Venezuela and threats to invade Greenland.
During the opening ceremony, Team USA athletes were cheered on, But jeers and whistles could be heard like Vance’s His wife, Second Lady Osha Vance, appeared on the stadium screens waving American flags from the podium.
In Milan, Several demonstrations She raged against the local deployment of ICE agents — even after clarifying that they were from an entirely separate investigative unit than the Enforcement Unit Vanguard of the immigration campaign In the United States
Homeland Security Investigations, a unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that focuses on cross-border crimes, often sends its officers to foreign events such as the Olympics to assist with security. The arm of ICE seen on US streets is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers have been sent to Italy. – I think this graph can also be deleted in weeds
Saturday’s demonstration witnessed the participation of thousands of demonstrators. Before the end, a small number of them clashed with the police, who fired tear gas and water cannons. Follow that Another one last weekWhen hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.
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Associated Press writer Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.
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AP Olympiad: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics