It was supposed to be a dream debut for Hunter Hess at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. But just days after arriving in Milan Cortina, the U.S freestyle skier competing in the men’s freeski halfpipe found himself at the center of a political firestorm and President Donald Trump wasted no time fueling it.

“U.S. Olympic Skier, Hunter Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics,” Donald Trump said on a X on Sunday. “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. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

But what did Hess say that sparked such a big reaction from the President?

The controversy began on February 7, during a press conference overshadowed by protests and criticism over ICE agents’ presence at the Games in a support role for U.S. diplomatic security. In the middle of that stress, a question that was raised by the reporters to Hunter Hess was: What is it like to represent the United States at the moment? Hess answered that one quite simply.

“It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S right now,” Hess admitted. “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.”

Hunter Hess added, “I think, for me it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me all the things that I believe are good about the U.S. 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.”

Those were quite controversial words, to which Donald Trump gave a retort. However, he was not the only one.

Hunter Hess faces backlash after chasing his Olympic dreams

Even sports legends weighed in. Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic “Miracle on Ice” hockey team, criticized Hunter Hess on X: “Hunter Hess US snowboarder saying he doesn’t represent his country but his family and friends. Then don’t put on the USA uniform maybe just put for family and friends. Some athletes just don’t get it.” Eruzione later deleted the post.

Florida politician Byron Donalds also attacked Hess, writing: “YOU chose to wear our flag. YOU chose to represent our country. YOU chose to compete at the @Olympics. If that’s too hard for you, then GO HOME. Some things are bigger than politics. You just don’t get it.”

Jake Paul, fiance of Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam, added on X: “Wow, pls shut the f*** up. From all true Americans. If you don’t want to represent this country, go live somewhere else.”

Even Presidential Envoy Richard Grenell weighed in: “Privileged Gen Z from Oregon hasn’t traveled much. He’s representing the greatest country in the world… move to Canada if you aren’t proud of wear USA.”

For someone like Hunter Hess, who has dedicated his life to skiing and worked tirelessly to reach the Olympics, this backlash hits especially hard.

Hunter Hess was raised in Bend, Oregon, where he skied at Mt. Bachelor. He was never a halfpipe expert as he only liked to jump and flip when he was not racing. However, he was inspired by a friend to compete in freeride competitions, and quickly developed an attraction to the style!

However, Hunter Hess narrowly missed qualifying for the 2022 Winter Olympics due to a knee injury and appendicitis but he kept improving and returned stronger for the 2026 Games. “The last Olympic qualifying process was crazy,” Hess said. “Everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong. I tore my MCL did all the recovery and everything was tracking perfectly.”

Then, the night before he was scheduled to return to the snow, disaster struck again. “I woke up in the middle of the night with appendicitis,” he said. “I drove myself to the hospital, had immediate surgery, and was out even longer.”

Then, in January 2026, at the Toyota U.S. Grand Prix and other qualifying programs, Hess had to compete with the best American halfpipe skiers. His good performance earned him a position in the U.S. Olympic team in the men’s freeski halfpipe.

But even before he set his foot on the halfpipe in the Olympics, Hunter Hess is in the middle of a highly heated debate on the issue of patriotism.