President Donald Trump unleashed a scathing attack on U.S. Olympic freestyle skier Hunter Hess on Sunday, calling the 27-year-old athlete “a real Loser” after Hess expressed mixed feelings about representing the United States at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this.”
The president’s rebuke came after Hess told reporters at a Friday press conference that competing for Team USA brought “mixed emotions” given the current political climate in the United States.
Hess said that representing the United States at the moment brings up mixed emotions and feels somewhat difficult, noting that there is a lot happening in the country that he and many others are not particularly supportive of.
Hess clarified that he views his Olympic participation as representing his personal values and the people who supported him rather than endorsing every aspect of U.S. policy. He said he sees himself as representing his friends and family back home, the people who carried that role before him, and the qualities he believes are good about the U.S. He added that wearing the flag does not mean he represents everything happening in the country.
Hess isn’t alone among American Olympians facing backlash for voicing political concerns. His teammate Chris Lillis also spoke out at the same press conference, expressing distress over recent immigration enforcement actions.
Lillis stated that he felt heartbroken about what was happening in the United States and said the country needed to focus on respecting everyone’s rights and treating all citizens with love and respect. He added that he hoped people watching Olympic athletes would see that as the America they aimed to represent.
Figure skater Amber Glenn, who made history as the first openly LGBTQ woman to skate at an Olympic Games, addressed challenges facing her community under the Trump administration. She posted on social media Saturday that she had received “a scary amount of hate/threats for simply using my voice WHEN ASKED about how I feel” and announced she would limit her time online for her well-being.
The athletes’ comments sparked fierce criticism from conservative figures and social media personalities. Trump-Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell suggested Hess should “move to Canada if you aren’t proud to wear USA,” while Tennessee Republican Representative Tim Burchett told him to “shut up and go play in the snow.”
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, who has 4.4 million followers on X, wrote: “From all true Americans If you don’t want to represent this country go live somewhere else.” Minutes after posting his criticism, Paul was photographed sitting beside Vice President JD Vance at the U.S. women’s hockey game in Milan.
U.S. Representative Byron Donalds, whom Trump has endorsed for Florida’s gubernatorial race in November, also joined the criticism. Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre and actor Rob Schneider added their voices to the backlash against the athletes.
The controversy unfolded against a backdrop of political tension at the Olympics. Vice President Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, were jeered at the opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro Stadium on Friday. Trump did not attend the ceremony.
Demonstrations erupted in Milan over reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents would be deployed to the Olympics. U.S. Ambassador to Italy and San Marino Tilman J. Fertitta later clarified that personnel from Homeland Security Investigations would serve in a “strictly advisory and intelligence-based” role “with no patrolling or enforcement involvement.”
British-American skier Gus Kenworthy, 34, who is competing for Great Britain, posted a graphic image on Instagram showing the words “**** ICE” written in snow with urine. “Innocent people have been murdered, and enough is enough,” Kenworthy wrote. “We can’t wait around while ICE continues to operate with unchecked power in our communities.”
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee acknowledged the growing online harassment in a statement Sunday. “The USOPC stands firmly behind Team USA athletes and remains committed to their well-being and safety, both on and off the field of play,” the organization said. The USOPC reported it was removing content and reporting credible threats to law enforcement.
The Trump administration has faced criticism both domestically and internationally for its immigration enforcement efforts, including the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month—Renée Good and Alex Pretti—by federal immigration officers.
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin took a different approach when asked about political tensions, quoting former South African leader Nelson Mandela: “Peace is not just the absence of conflict, peace is the creation of an environment where we can all flourish, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, class, caste or any other social markers of difference.”