President Donald Trump is greeted by Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, left, and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, right, as he arrives for an infrastructure meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has a tweet for just about everything, but he’s got nothing so far for Team USA a few days into the 2018 Olympic Games.
Since the competition began on Friday, Trump has tweeted about the massive budget deal he signed into law, his desire to have more Republican legislators in Congress and offered condolences for two Ohio police officers who were killed in the line of duty. He tweeted about jobless claims dropping, his decision to block release of a Democratic memo on the Russia investigation and the downfall of a top aide accused of domestic abuse.
Missing from the series? Any mention of Team USA or words of encouragement for the athletes competing in the games that opened Friday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Trump did send a pair of tweets last week complimenting the host country for the games.
“Best wishes to the Republic of Korea on hosting the @Olympics! What a wonderful opportunity to show everyone that you are a truly GREAT NATION!” he tweeted last Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony. He followed up with: “Congratulations to the Republic of Korea on what will be a MAGNIFICENT Winter Olympics! What the South Korean people have built is truly an inspiration!”
Congratulations to the Republic of Korea on what will be a MAGNIFICENT Winter Olympics! What the South Korean people have built is truly an inspiration! pic.twitter.com/giN2B1h6Ph
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 7, 2018
The United States had won four medals as of Monday, including gold in men’s and ladies’ slopestyle.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday congratulated the U.S. Olympic team on a “great start.”
“We especially look forward to snowboarders Jamie Anderson and Red Gerard bringing their gold medals back home with them very soon,” she said.
Vice President Mike Pence returned to Washington late Saturday after leading the U.S. delegation to Friday’s opening ceremony. Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, who serves in the White House as an unpaid adviser to her father, will lead a delegation to the closing ceremony.
Trump’s silence on the Pyeongchang Games mirrors his relative lack of comment during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He sent one tweet that August. “Good luck #TeamUSA #OpeningCeremony #Rio2016,” Trump wrote as a caption to a photo of himself, with both thumbs up, standing in front of an American flag. Superimposed on the photo was the phrase “Big League Good Luck Team USA.”
And that was it.