Donald Trump loves his country. He expects his fellow Americans to do the same.
And President Trump is red with rage over what these Olympians said about America.
President Donald Trump isn’t one to sit back while American athletes badmouth their own country during the Olympics. He’s hitting hard against a bunch of U.S. Olympians who’ve turned their press spots into soapboxes for slamming the nation under the current leadership.
These competitors are making it clear that wearing the red, white, and blue comes with their own picky terms, tied up in personal politics and gripes.
Take freestyle skier Hunter Hess, for starters. He’s out there saying that suiting up for Team USA stirs up all sorts of confused feelings.
Instead of full-throated pride, Hess picks and chooses what parts of America he stands for. He claims he’s really just out there for his buddies and relatives back home, plus whatever he thinks is decent about the country.
“If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it,” Hess stated.
Trump didn’t waste time clapping back. On Truth Social this Sunday, he tore into Hess without pulling punches:
“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. 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. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
It’s not just Hess stirring the pot. Fellow freestyle skier Chris Lillis is jumping in with his own complaints, zeroing in on how the government handles the border and keeps things secure. He’s admitting that jocks usually clam up on politics, but not him—he’s letting it rip.
“A lot of times athletes are hesitant to talk about their political views and how we feel about things,” Lillis stated.
“I feel heartbroken about what’s happened in the United States,” he said regarding ICE and the Trump admin’s actions in securing the border.
Lillis wants America to shift gears toward some fuzzy idea of treating everyone with hugs and high-fives, no matter what.
“I think as a country we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights, making sure that we’re treating our citizens, as well as anybody, with love and respect,” he stated. “That’s the America we’re trying to represent.”
These kinds of outbursts from athletes in different events show a real clash between their private beefs and the old-school duty of Olympians to wave the flag for the whole darn country.
It’s like they’re forgetting that the Games are about putting America first, not airing dirty laundry.
All this chatter stands out because the Olympics have always been about pulling together as one nation, athletes marching under the stars and stripes without turning it into a personal protest fest.
American Olympians are supposed to stand tall for every citizen in global showdowns, no matter their own politics—though that ideal gets tested when divisions at home boil over.
