DONALD TRUMP SURPRISED JD VANCE GOT BOOED AT WINTER OLYMPICS CEREMONY
President Donald Trump told reporters he was surprised that Vice President J.D. Vance was greeted by a chorus of boos at the Winter Olympics’ opening ceremony in Milan, Italy, on Friday.
“That’s surprising because people like him,” Trump told a reporter while aboard his Air Force One en route to Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.
“He’s in a foreign country, in all fairness,” he added, after specifying that he did not see the booing of the Vance himself. “He doesn’t get booed in this country.”
According to an average compiled by RealClearPolitics, more Americans (49.7 percent) have an unfavorable opinion of Vance than a favorable one (42.0 percent). That’s a little better than how the president is faring: according to RealClearPolitics, 54.0 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 42.8 percent have a favorable one.
Why It Matters
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off on Friday in Milan’s famous San Siro stadium with performances from singers Andrea Bocelli and Mariah Carey.
Trump did not represent the U.S. at the opening ceremony on Friday, which was attended by the vice president instead. But the presence of Vance at the ceremony appeared to ruffle some feathers, with the cameras capturing booing and whistling, mixed with applause, when it focused on Vance and his wife, Usha.
In the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) feed, broadcaster Adrienne Arsenault said, “Oop…those are a lot of boos for him …whistling, jeering, some applause. Not a long shot for him on the screen there.”
What To Know
Vance was likely to receive a frosty welcome in Milan after recent news of ICE officers being deployed at the Winter Olympics sparked outrage in Italy.
In the tumultuous days following the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota by ICE agents, reports that ICE agents would have appeared on Italian streets to reinforce American security operations during the Winter Olympics triggered uneasiness and anger in Italy.
“This is a militia that kills […] of course they’re not welcome in Milan,” Milan Mayor Beppe Sala told a local radio in late January.
Both sides tried to cool growing tensions. The Department of Homeland Security specified that “all security operations at the Olympics are directed and managed exclusively by Italian authorities,” and Italy’s interior minister Matteo Piantedosi stressed that ICE agents would have no operational role in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Despite this mishap and ongoing concerns around Trump’s claims on Greenland, Vance met Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday, hours before the start of the opening ceremony, and the two countries reiterated their desire to cooperate and maintain a close relationship.
The Italian public might feel a little less warm toward the Trump administration, however. While U.S. athletes were cheered and applauded during the opening ceremony on Friday, Vance was booed when the camera turned toward him waving an American flag next to his wife.
What People Are Saying
Vance told Meloni on Friday: “In the spirit of the Olympics friendship, competition—competition based on rules—and just coming together around shared values, we’re very, very thrilled to be here, and we’ll have a great conversation about number of topics.”
He added: “We love Italy and the Italian people. As you said, we have many excellent relations, many economic connections and partnerships.”
Meloni said on Friday: “Italy and the United States have always maintained very significant ties.”
What Happens Next
Almost 3,000 athletes from 90 countries will compete in the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics for a total of 116 medals over the next two weeks. You can follow the games on our website.
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2026-02-07T08:58:13Z