JD Vance at the 2026 Winter Olympics
Ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is traveling to Milan, Italy, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, raising concerns about how the U.S. team’s Olympians will be received on the world stage.
milan — U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance returns to the Milano Roo Ice Hockey Arena to cheer on the U.S. women’s national hockey team. This time we’re joined by YouTube star turned boxer Jake Paul.
Vance and Paul sat side by side during Team USA’s qualifying match against Finland on Saturday. The two arrived separately. Vance and his family found their seats just before the end of the first season, but Paul joined the second family after the second season began.
Vance’s daughter, Mirabel, 4, was sitting on Paul’s lap as they chatted intimately. When five-time Olympian Hilary Knight scored to give the U.S. a 4-0 lead over Finland at the 29:17 mark, both Vance and Paul stood and applauded with the crowd. Vance’s wife Usha and sons — Ewan, 8 years old and Vivek, 5 years old— was also present and sat next to the pair.
It would be no surprise to see Paul turn up in Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics. His fiancée is Dutch speed skater Jutta Lierdam. Lilledam is competing in the Olympics for the second time and is a medal contender in both the long and short distances. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, he won a silver medal in the 1000 meters and placed fifth in the 500 meters.
Paul and Lierdam made their relationship Instagram official in April 2023, with Paul revealing their relationship by posting several photos of the couple holding hands with the caption, “I’m Dutch now.” The two announced their engagement in March 2025.
Paul is a vocal supporter of the Trump administration. He sat with President Donald Trump at the College Football Playoff national championship game in Miami last month and shared several photos from the game with his 28 million followers on Instagram.
Vance attended several events in the city during the opening ceremony of the Milan Winter Olympics, where he was booed by more than 70,000 spectators as Team USA entered the national parade. Vance participated in a team figure skating competition on Friday, met with U.S. Olympians earlier in the day to wish them well, and then watched U.S. women’s hockey defeat the Czech Republic 5-1 on Thursday.
“Everyone here, Democrats, Republicans and independents, we’re rooting for you and rooting for you. We know you’re going to be proud of us,” Vance said Thursday. “Thank you everyone. I hope you enjoy it.”
Vance did not meet with the U.S. women’s hockey team before or after Thursday’s victory. Many players said they didn’t even know Vance was in attendance until later informed by the media. Vance met privately with the U.S. men’s national hockey team at a hotel Saturday morning before visiting Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” mural, the White House said in a statement.
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