U.S. hockey player Brady Tkachuk said Thursday he didn’t appreciate a doctored TikTok video shared by the White House that made it seem like he was discrediting Canadians after winning Olympic gold by calling it fake and something he would never say.
The video contains fabricated audio in which Tkachuk refers to Canadians as “maple syrup eating (expletive),” sounding the expletive. The video comes with a note stating that it “contains AI-generated media.”
“It’s clearly fake because it’s not my voice and it’s not my lips that are moving,” Tkachuk said. “I have no control over these accounts. … I know those words would never come out of my mouth.”
When asked if he liked the video, Tkachuk said he did not: “I would never say that. That’s not who I am.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tkachuk also denied that he was the voice that shouted “close the northern border” during Team USA’s celebratory phone call with US President Donald Trump after Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Canada to win the gold medal at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan Cortina.
“I’ve seen things where people think it’s me, but if you watch the video, that’s not my voice and it’s something I never say,” Tkachuk said. “I don’t really understand how that in itself has created such a storm, playing here and giving everything I have here.”
Tkachuk, a 26-year-old Arizona native, is the captain of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and has played his entire career in the Canadian capital. He and other members of the U.S. team returned from Italy this week and are resuming the NHL season. Some attended Trump’s State of the Union address in Washington on Tuesday evening and were cheered by those in attendance.
President Donald Trump welcomed the US men’s hockey team during his State of the Union address.
The U.S. women’s team also defeated Canada in overtime 2-1, the first time the Americans have won both Olympic hockey tournaments. The celebration of the double victories has been overshadowed by American politics almost since the final horn of the men’s game.
Speaking over a locker room loudspeaker after the game, Trump invited the men’s team to the White House, adding: “We’re going to have to bring the women’s team, you know that.” The president also joked that if he didn’t extend the invitation, he would likely be impeached. Some of the men’s players chuckled, something at least one said they later regretted. Tkachuk said he understood how the moment of the phone call could have been viewed by the women’s players.
“I mean, I understand,” he said. “We supported them, they supported us. You can’t control what other people say.”
A number of men’s players traveled to Washington on Tuesday and visited Trump at the White House before being guests at the State of the Union. Many of the women’s players, meanwhile, were on their way back to their professional or university clubs. They didn’t learn until late Sunday that they too had been invited, making it difficult to change travel plans already disrupted by bad weather on the East Coast.
In his speech, Trump said plans are in the works for the women’s team to visit the White House, although it is unclear when that could happen. The earliest the team could travel to Washington would be in late spring after the PWHL season concludes.
In the meantime, rapper Flavor Flav has a July party planned for the women’s team in Las Vegas for those who can make it.
Olympic hockey champion Hilary Knight addressed the controversial phone call between the US men’s hockey team and President Donald Trump: “The joke was distasteful and unfortunate. And I think the way women are represented is a great learning point.”
U.S. women’s hockey team captain Hilary Knight said earlier this week that she does not want what she called an “unsavory” joke from Trump to hinder a historic performance by American women at the Winter Games. Players from both U.S. teams uniformly expressed how much they bonded at the Athletes’ Village in Milan and supported each other on their path to gold.
“Our two teams were so close. We watched other events together. We went to support them. We loved the women’s team. The women’s team loved us and we are so proud that we had a clean sweep of gold medals and so much respect for them and the other athletes,” said Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk, Brady’s brother.
Brady Tkachuk was asked if he was a proud American while serving as senator’s captain, at a time of heightened tension between the countries.
“First and foremost, I have given absolutely everything I have as Senator of Ottawa: blood, sweat and tears,” Tkachuk said. “As an American, when you represent the U.S., it’s an honor. There are only three teams that have won the gold medal for the U.S., so to be part of that is special.”
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