OTTAWA — Brady Tkachuk said he did not appreciate an AI-doctored video shared by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians, calling it fake and not something he would ever say.
The Ottawa Senators captain spoke Thursday after the team’s morning skate ahead of its home game against the Detroit Red Wings, his first availability since helping the United States defeat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win men’s hockey gold Sunday at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
The U.S. women also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime three days earlier, the first time the Americans swept both Olympic hockey tournaments.
The altered clip, shared by the White House’s TikTok account, inserted fabricated audio of Tkachuk referring to Canadians as “maple syrup eating f—s,” with the expletive bleeped in the video. The video carries a note saying it “contains AI-generated media.”
“It’s clearly fake because it’s not my voice and not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. … I know that those words would never come out of my mouth.”
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.
He also denied being the voice heard shouting “close the northern border” during Team USA’s post-game congratulatory phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday.
“I’ve been seeing stuff that people think it’s me, but if you watch the video, that’s not my voice and something that I never say,” Tkachuk said. “I don’t really know how that kind of took a storm on its own when I play here and give everything I have here.
“Of course, I would never say anything like that.”
The Senators’ captain, who has played his entire NHL career in Ottawa, was asked about navigating being a proud American while wearing the ‘C’ in Canada’s capital at a moment of heightened tension between the countries.
“First and foremost, I’ve given absolutely everything I have as an Ottawa Senator — blood, sweat and tears,” Tkachuk said.
“When you represent the U.S., being an American, it’s an honour. There are only three teams that have won the gold medal for the U.S., so to be part of that is special.”
Tkachuk called the post-gold stretch a whirlwind that included celebrations and a trip to Washington. Some members of the team attended Trump’s State of the Union speech in Washington on Tuesday night and were cheered by those in attendance
“It just was special,” he said.
“Being an American citizen, you never really think you’re going to be going to the White House and be in the Oval Office.”
The post-Olympic glow has been mixed with criticism of the team’s phone call with Trump, during which the president made a joke about inviting the U.S. women’s team to Washington so he would not be impeached. Some players laughed in the moment.
Tkachuk said the congratulatory call came shortly after the final and described the exchange as overwhelming.
“When you’re talking to the president 10 minutes after you just achieve your dream, it’s just the fact that you’re talking to him, you can’t really believe where your life’s at,” he said.
Tkachuk pointed to the teams’ shared success in Milan, saying the men’s and women’s programs spent time together in the Olympic Village and supported each other throughout the tournament. He said the women’s overtime win helped fuel the men’s push.
“When Megan Keller scored the OT winner, I think there were 15 of us in one of the lounges back at the village,” Tkachuk said. “We were all standing up, going nuts, clapping.
“They just achieved their dream, and that gave us so much motivation to go win the gold medals ourselves.”
Hilary Knight, captain of the U.S. women’s team, earlier this week said she doesn’t want to let what she called a “distasteful” joke by Trump get in the way of a historic performance by American women at the Winter Games. Players for both U.S. teams have been uniform in saying how much they bonded in the athletes’ village in Milan and supported each other on their runs to gold.
Tkachuk said he understood how the moment on the phone call could have landed with women’s players watching back home.
“I mean, I get it,” he said. “We supported them, they supported us. You can’t control what other people say.”
He said he has not spoken directly with women’s players since the call.
Tkachuk said the controversy has not changed his feelings about playing in Canada.
“That’s not even something that has crossed my mind,” he said. “I love playing for this team. I love the guys in this room.”
Senators coach Travis Green was asked about the outside noise surrounding Tkachuk and Team USA teammate Jake Sanderson as they returned to the club.
“No, we don’t talk a lot of politics within our locker room,” Green said. “I know our two players, know them well, know how much they love it in Canada. They love playing here.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.
With files from The Associated Press.
The Canadian Press
