The US men's and women's ice hockey teams have returned home after successful Winter Olympics campaigns but with controversy hot on their heels.
Videos surfaced from the men's locker room celebrating their gold medal win over Canada with FBI director Kash Patel, who facilitated a call with US President Donald Trump in which he made a joke about having to also invite the women's team to the White House.
"We have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the women's team, you do know that," he said.
"I do believe I probably would be impeached [if the women's team was not invited]."
The women's team won gold in identical circumstances to the men, beating Canada 2-1 in overtime two nights earlier.
The men's team was widely criticised for laughing at the comments, with players stressing the close connection between the teams.
Megan Keller posted a photo with fellow overtime hero Jack Hughes with their gold medals, while Hannah Bilka and Hayley Scamurra posted shots celebrating with Matt Boldy and Tage Thompson of the men's team.
Hughes and his brother Quinn did a series of interviews on Tuesday morning in the US and both stressed how proud they were of the women's team's achievement.
Both were at the women's gold medal match and Jack said one of his first thoughts after scoring the game winner in the last event of the Milano Cortina Games was of Keller.
"I'm just so proud to join her as a gold medallist," he told the Today Show, describing him and his brother as "superfans".
Quinn said the teams had gotten to know each other "extremely well" while training together in recent years, while their mother and former USA player, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes, also spoke to Today.
"At the end of the day it's just about the country and the moment that these players, both the men and women, can bring so much unity to a group and to a country," said Weinberg-Hughes, who was a player development consultant with the women's team in Italy.
"People that cheered on that don't watch hockey, people that have politics on one side or on the other side, and that's all the men's team and the women's team care about.
"The way the women cheered on the men and the way the men cheered on the women, that's what it's all about. And the other things they cannot control, the care about humanity, they care about unity and they care about the country."
Both Hughes brothers said they were excited to go to the White House and were expected to attend the State of the Union as well.
"Everything is so political," Jack told the Daily Mail outside a Miami nightclub.
"We're athletes, we're so proud to represent the US, and when you get the chance to go to the White House and meet the president, we're proud to be Americans and that's so patriotic.
"No matter what your views are, we're super excited to go to the White House and just be a part of that."
A spokesperson for the women's team said they were "sincerely grateful" but declined the invitation to the White House.
"They were honoured to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgement," the spokesperson said.
A number of professional sporting teams have declined invitations to the White House during the two Trump terms, but the statement said it was simply a scheduling issue.
"They've got busy schedules too," Jack Hughes said.
"I know everyone's giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. People are so negative out there and are trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing.
"Our relationship with them over the course of being in the Olympic village, we were so tight with their group and our group after we won the gold medal."
