“Everyone is giving us backlash for all the social media stuff today. People are so negative out there, and they are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing.”

Hughes insisted all was well between the men’s team and the women’s team.

“I think we are so tight with their group,” he told the tabloid. “After we won the gold medal, we were in the cafeteria at 3:30 a.m. in the morning with them, and we go from there, pack our bags and we’re on the bus.”

“People are so negative about things,” he continued. “I think everyone in that locker room knows how much we support them, how proud we are of them and we know the same way we feel about them, they feel about us.”

Hughes, who plays for the New Jersey Devils in the NHL, wasn’t apologizing for visiting Trump.

“We’re athletes,” he said to the Daily Mail. “We’re so proud to represent the U.S., 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."