When Auston Matthews nabbed Olympic gold with Team USA this past weekend, Toronto hockey fans barely had time to react before the Maple Leafs captain popped up in a very different arena: the White House.
Team USA’s 2-1 overtime win over Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games on Sunday delivered the Americans their first Olympic men’s hockey gold since 1980. Celebrations continued on Tuesday, when about 20 Team USA members visited Washington to tour the White House and greet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
The visit lands at a prickly moment in Canada-U.S. relations. Beyond last year’s “51st state” rhetoric, Trump has recently returned to tariff talk, including a proposed 10% global duty on imports slated to run for 150 days. Add in his repeated jabs at Canada, including renewed annexation talk and a social post poking at the U.S.-Canada hockey rivalry, and it’s easy to see why this visit feels a bit complicated for Leafs fans.
Matthews is American, but he’s also the face of the Leafs, so the political baggage attached to Trump’s invite has turned what might have been a straightforward photo-op into an online culture-war debate (or maybe more of a massacre, looking at a few of the tamer comments from a recent Reddit thread):
“Matthews has always been as vanilla as they come as a person. Expecting him to stand up for anything is beyond his capabilities as a person. Take the hockey out of him and there’s not much left substance wise.”
“Matthews has lost much of my previous respect. How do you smile, shake the hand and be Trump’s prop when you know he’s an evil dictator…”
“This is questionable behavior as a Maple Leaf at best. His contract should be reviewed…”
“No moral code. Not surprising. And not someone who should represent a team in a city that values diversity and inclusion.”
“This guy is in Canadian commercials sometimes, yes? Reach out to the companies and let them know how disappointed you are in their spokesperson. I have no ideas what products he shills, which suggests his endorsement might not be the most effective”
Others brought up the Martin Luther King Jr. quote Matthews has tattooed on his chest, noting that it clashes with his meeting with Trump. In a post on Threads, one user wrote:
“If Auston Matthews doesn’t understand why many people are upset at him, or wonders what he SHOULD be doing right now, he can just read what he’s tattooed on his own body. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.- Martin Luther King Jr”Every person, both in that room and outside, should heed these wise words.”
The Leafs, for their part, are back on the road, with a game in Tampa on Wednesday.
