Trump doesn’t honor females in Tennis-video, but congratulates males

April 24, 2026 Aksel Kryhlmand

A recent White House visit by the University of Georgia women’s tennis team, celebrating their NCAA championship, has ignited controversy after a photo shared by press aide Margo Martin showed former President Donald Trump and five male staffers and coaches front and center, largely obscuring the female athletes.

The photograph, taken on Tuesday, featured Trump flanked by Georgia deputy athletic director Ford Williams, athletic director Josh Brooks, head coach Drake Bernstein, associate head coach Jarryd Chaplin, and assistant coach Will Reynolds in the foreground.

Behind them, on a riser, stood the 11 members of the championship-winning team: Anastasiia Lopata, Mai Nirundorn, Aysegul Mert, Sarah Branicki, Alexandra Vecic, Tatum Buffington, Guillermina Grant, Haley Gaudette, Sofia Rojas, Mell Reasco, and Hayden Mulberry. Notably absent was star player Dasha Vidmanova, who was competing in the Madrid Open qualifying draw.

"A photo is worth a thousand words"

The image quickly drew criticism, with former tennis star Martina Navratilova commenting on X, "A photo is worth a thousand words ..." Adding to the scrutiny, a video also shared by Margo Martin showed Trump shaking hands with the five men in the front row but not extending the same gesture to the women behind them. Despite the backlash, the University of Georgia women’s tennis team's official account captioned the photo, "An honor to represent the University of Georgia at the White House today! @realDonaldTrump thanks for having us out!"

The Georgia team earned their NCAA Division I women’s tennis championship title last May and was among seven collegiate teams honored at the White House this week. Four of the teams recognized at Tuesday’s event were women’s sports teams, alongside one mixed-gender rifle team.

Pattern of perceived marginalization

This incident , reported by The Guardian, is not an isolated one in the context of White House visits under Trump. The Washington Post reported that prior to 2019, no women’s championship team had made a solo visit to the White House during his previous term.

Earlier this year, the US women’s hockey team declined a White House invitation after winning gold at the Milano Cortina Olympics, citing scheduling conflicts and previous commitments.

That decision followed a comment by Trump during a phone call with the gold-winning US men’s team, where he joked about needing to invite the women’s team.

Hilary Knight, captain of the US women’s hockey team, described Trump’s remark in February as a "distasteful joke," stating, "We’re just focusing on celebrating the women in our room, the extraordinary efforts, and continue to celebrate three gold medals in program history as well as the double gold for both men’s and women’s at the same time. And really not detract from that with a distasteful joke."

The recent photograph also drew comparisons to a 2017 image of Trump signing an anti-abortion bill surrounded by eight male staffers in the Oval Office, which also sparked outrage. More recently, Trump has faced accusations of running a "misogynistic administration" following the departures of three women from his cabinet, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, with Noem and Bondi subsequently replaced by men.

Sources: www.theguardian.com