President Trump announced several medals and awards during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he said he would award to a player on the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team.
In a dramatic entrance during Mr. Trump’s address, the team entered the press gallery to cheers and applause.
Most attendees on the House floor, including Democrats and the Supreme Court justices, rose to their feet as the athletes passed through the gallery, which sits directly above where Mr. Trump was delivering his speech.
Mr. Trump said he would award Connor Hellebuyck, the team’s goaltender, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. The award is supposed to recognize a lifetime of significant achievements, but the president focused on Mr. Hellebuyck’s performance that propelled the Americans to gold.
“I’ve never seen a goaltender play as well as goalie Connor Hellebuyck,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump awarded the Purple Heart to National Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, who was shot in downtown Washington, D.C. last year and survived. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, who was wounded in the same attack, later died. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members who are wounded or killed in action.
Scott Ruskan, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer based in Corpus Christi, Texas, was awarded the Legion of Merit for rescuing 165 people from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River that was hit hard by the catastrophic floods in Central Texas last year. The Legion of Merit is a U.S. military decoration for outstanding service.
Mr. Trump also announced two recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award for bravery. One was Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, who was wounded during the operation to capture former President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.
“Maduro was the only thing that Eric was thinking about,” Mr. Trump said, describing the operation in which Mr. Slover was wounded. “Then, even as he was gushing blood which was flowing back down the aisle, helicopter lands at a steep angle.”
Melania Trump then presented a Medal of Honor to Royce Williams, a 100-year-old Navy fighter pilot who served in World War II and the Korean War. Mr. Trump said Mr. Williams conducted a secret mission during the Korean War in 1952 and shot down four enemy jets.
As Mr. Trump presented the awards, his tone at times shifted into what sounded like a campaign rally, portraying an America that he said “keeps winning.”
Mr. Trump extended a last-minute invitation to the team after it defeated Canada at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, winning its first gold since 1980. The players posed for a photo with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office ahead of the address, along with Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.
Only the men’s team traveled to Washington. The women’s hockey team, which also defeated Canada at the Winter Olympics last Thursday, said its players could not attend because of scheduling conflicts.
Mr. Trump’s devotion to sports is unlike that of any president in modern memory. He is the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl and has made appearances at the Daytona 500, the Ryder Cup and the men’s U.S. Open tennis final, among other events.
Numerous sports figures have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom over the years, under presidents including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both noted sports fans. It is rare, however, for an active athlete to receive the medal.
Mr. Trump awarded the medal to Tiger Woods in 2019, and to Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach and Alan Page in 2018.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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