President Donald Trump was widely criticized on social media this week after he shared a bizarre AI video that featured him as a player on the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team. Experts in political science and public humanities say the president’s post exposed a clear hypocrisy.

Trump celebrated America’s hockey victory over Canada in the Olympic gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday by sharing a video on his Truth Social platform that made him the star of the game.

The clip shows an imagined Trump scoring goals and shoving and punching his Canadian opponents. The video ends with the U.S. hockey team excitedly embracing the president as the team’s hero.

Collin Anderson, a clinical assistant professor in the political science department at the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences, called Trump’s latest AI video post absurd and childish.

“It was absurd, childish, and not befitting [of] any world leader, let alone the President of the United States,” he told HuffPost.

What’s more, Anderson said Trump’s post purporting to celebrate the men’s U.S. hockey team exposed a hypocrisy: The president’s show of patriotism hasn’t been consistent for all U.S. athletes.

Anderson pointed to a clip of a phone call Trump made to the men’s hockey team following their win on Sunday that has since garnered criticism. During the call, Trump invited the men’s team to his State of the Union address and White House before he mentioned the U.S. women’s hockey team, which also won gold at the Olympics.

“And we have to — I must tell you — we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” Trump said as the men’s team burst into laugher. Trump then added: “[If I don’t] do that, I do believe I probably would be impeached, OK?”

The U.S. women’s hockey team has since declined Trump’s invitation, citing “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments,” as reasons for turning down the invite, a spokesperson said.

If Trump’s latest AI post was “truly about patriotism and pride in American athletes, that would be extended to all American Olympians, regardless of sport, gender, or anything else,” Anderson said.

“However, criticism of athletes who oppose his policies show[s] that Trump only cares when he thinks the athletes are on ‘his side’ and it can score him political points,” he continued, referencing Trump’s recent criticism of U.S. Olympic athletes who have spoken out about the political climate back home.

Trump called American freeskier Hunter Hess a “real loser” after he said he had “mixed emotions” about representing Team USA. U.S. athletes at the Games had fielded questions about the Trump administration’s violent immigration crackdown.

Deepak Sarma, inaugural distinguished scholar in the public humanities at Case Western Reserve University, said that Trump’s celebratory post was “far from patriotism and more like extreme nationalism (ultra nationalism) or jingoism.”

“He transformed his purported love for America into American exceptionalism, white superiority, and an explicit threat towards Canada, a neighbor who he has already threatened with annexation,” Sarma told HuffPost. “He changed an innocent and exciting celebration to one of intimidation and fear.”

via Associated Press

Team USA celebrates winning the gold medal game against Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan on Feb. 22, 2026.

Trump co-opted the men’s hockey team win for his own “political propaganda campaign,” Anderson says.

Trump’s decision to center himself after the hockey team’s win revealed a lot about his approach to leadership, experts say.

“Trump is trying to co-opt the men’s team win for his own continuing political propaganda campaign,” Anderson said. “With Canada being a constant target of Trump’s rhetoric, this presented an extra valuable opportunity for his administration.”

“It is reflective of what we’ve come to expect from Trump,” he later continued.
“His putting himself center stage in something that he had no hand in, and in turn, diminishing the accomplishment of the men’s team.”

“We’ve seen this numerous times throughout his presidency, where he claims to be responsible for positive policy developments that he’s completely uninvolved in,” he added.

Sarma said that when they first saw Trump’s AI hockey video post, they thought: “Trump never should have left television.”

“And, moreover, that the video was very good evidence that Trump has lost touch with reality, and suffers from a combination of narcissism and megalomania,” they said.

Sarma said that they believe Trump’s latest AI video post indicates that he is having a “blurring of reality, where he may no longer distinguish between his authentic self and the persona required for reality TV or political stages.”

“As POTUS, however, his delusion has significant and catastrophic consequences,” they said. Sarma worries that other GOP elected officials who have been loyal to Trump either “believe him to be a super-hero of sorts” — or worse, are just enabling his behavior.

Trump made himself the center of attention with his latest AI post to “feed his fragile ego, requiring constant admiration, validation, and control over their environment,” Sarma later added.

Hockey’s physicality was likely especially appealing to Trump, according to Anderson.

Anderson said that Trump sharing that AI hockey video was likely part of the president’s efforts to “shape his public image as a ‘tough guy.’”

“Hockey has a reputation of being a very physical and violent sport and appeals to a lot of the traits associated with traditional masculinity,” he said. “That the win happened to be over Canada was a political bonus for Trump as well.”

In addition to Trump’s purported effort to show patriotism, others on the right, including Vice President JD Vance, have also celebrated the men’s hockey team win as being quintessentially “American.”

“Heart full of pride for his country and a few front teeth gone missing. That’s American hockey right there,” Vance wrote on X, in response to a post that appeared to show a since-removed picture of player Jack Hughes.

Anderson noted that the National Hockey League has a relatively high reported percentage of registered Republicans compared to other major sports leagues. Trump choosing to make a video about hockey was not “an accident,” considering the reported political leanings of NHL players, he said.

“The sport is often touted to have European roots, specifically in Scotland and the United Kingdom, which is partially true, but misses that the Native Americans and Canadian First Peoples heavily influenced modern hockey,” he later emphasized, before adding: “Despite its Native influences, the white aspect of it tends to get focused on in circles that celebrate hockey as a part of white culture.”

“The combination of its ‘European’ heritage, relatively homogenous ethnic makeup, and pre-existing political leanings make the NHL the perfect target for groups looking to coronate a sport as the sport of white culture,” Anderson said.