Even if political discourse in Israel is far from statesmanlike, when it comes to relations between politicians and Olympic athletes, things are generally handled with relative calm — from brief congratulatory messages after a medal win in the best-case scenario to a more aggressive spin in less successful moments.
In Donald Trump’s America, where statesmanship is a rusting exhibit in a history museum, the story is entirely different. Less than a week after the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, it appears a full-fledged front has opened between the U.S. president and American athletes.
The disputes are not about a lack of funding for sports or claims of discrimination compared with more popular disciplines, but rather one of the most charged issues in U.S. politics today: the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has ordered the implementation of a sweeping deportation program and significantly increased ICE’s budget, fueling widespread unrest in American society. The death of citizen Renee Good, who was shot about a month ago in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, has further intensified the divisions between supporters and opponents of the agency.
The broader public debate spilled into the Olympic arena following unsubstantiated media reports that ICE agents would help provide security for the Winter Games. The U.S. ambassador to Italy quickly clarified that security for the event falls solely under the responsibility of Italian authorities, but the controversy had already ignited.
‘I feel heartbroken’
Gus Kenworthy, a freestyle skier who grew up in the United States and won an Olympic silver medal for the country at the 2014 Sochi Games, voiced the most explicit protest by an athlete against ICE. Kenworthy, who now represents Britain, urinated the words "fuck ice" into the snow and posted a photo on Instagram.
He is not alone. Members of the official U.S. delegation have also spoken out openly. "I feel heartbroken about what's happened in the United States," freestyle skier Chris Lillis said at a news conference. "I think that as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody's rights and making sure that we're treating our citizens as well as anybody with love and respect. And I hope that when people look at athletes competing in the Olympics, they realise that that's the America that we're trying to represent."
But it was another, sharper comment at that same news conference that managed to infuriate the U.S. president. Hunter Hess, also an American freestyle skier, said he has "mixed feelings" about representing his country at the moment. "It's a little hard. There's obviously a lot going on that I'm not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren't," he said. "I think for me it's more I'm representing my, like, friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. I just think, if it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I'm representing it. Just because I'm wearing the flag doesn't mean I represent everything that's going on in the U.S."
For Trump, that was already too much. "Hunter Hess is a real loser," he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "He 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."
The clash between the president and the athlete quickly became the main topic of conversation within the U.S. delegation, and anyone interviewed ahead of competitions was inevitably drawn into the issue. "I’m the daughter of immigrant parents, so this issue hits pretty close to home for me," snowboarder Chloe Kim said. Kim, who begins her quest today for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal, added: "I think in moments like these, it is really important for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another for all that’s going on."
Another athlete who knows well what it feels like to be caught in a political storm is Eileen Gu, the Olympic freestyle skiing champion who faced heavy criticism for choosing to represent China despite growing up in the United States. After winning a silver medal this week, Gu said she feels a great deal of empathy and sympathy for Hess, but understands that it is impossible to win this kind of media war and therefore prefers to focus on skiing.
Whether this is a war that can be won or not, the guns already appear to be firing. It will be interesting to see how Trump reacts if Hess, or another opponent of his policies, wins a medal during the Games. Do not expect a generic congratulatory post.