US President Donald Trump on Sunday said it was hard to root for US Olympians who speak out against administration policies, calling one such critic a “real loser” who maybe should have stayed home.

It was the latest and most prominent example of American Olympians at the Games in Cortina, Milan, causing an online reaction with their words.

At a press conference on Friday, reporters asked American athletes how they feel about representing the country during the Trump administration’s increased immigration crackdown.

Freestyle skier Hunter Hess replied that he has mixed emotions because he does not agree with the situation and that he is in Milan and competing on behalf of everyone who helped him get to the Games.

“If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I represent that,” Hess said. “Just because I wear a flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that happens in the US”

Among those who lashed out at Hess was YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

“From all true Americans. If you don’t want to represent this country, go live somewhere else,” he wrote on X, where he has 4.4 million followers. Minutes later, he was photographed sitting next to US Vice President JD Vance at a US women’s hockey game in the Olympic host city of Milan.

Trump said the next day that Hess’ comments made it harder to root for him.

“Hess, a real loser, says he’s not representing his country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the team, and it’s a shame he’s on it,” he wrote on his Truth Social account.

Hess is not alone in expressing his displeasure

At a press conference Friday with the athletes, freestyle skier Chris Lillis mentioned Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying he was “heartbroken” by what’s happening in the U.S.

“I think as a country we need to focus on respecting everyone’s rights and making sure we treat our citizens as well as everyone else, with love and respect,” Lillis said. “I hope that when people look at the athletes competing in the Olympics, they realize that this is America that we’re trying to represent.”

American figure skater Amber Glenn said the LGBTQ+ community has had a tough time during the Trump administration.

In addition to Paul, conservative figures criticizing athletes on social media include former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, actor Rob Schneider and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds — who Trump endorsed for Florida’s gubernatorial race in November. And there was a flood of vitriol directed at them from ordinary Americans.

Glenn posted on Instagram that she received a “scary amount of hate/threats for simply using her voice WHEN ASKED HOW I FEEL.” She added that she will start limiting her use of social media for her own well-being.

In response to questions from The Associated Press, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday that it is aware of the increasing amount of offensive and harmful messages directed at athletes and is doing its best to remove content and report credible threats to police.

“The USOPC stands firmly behind Team USA athletes and remains committed to their well-being and safety, both on and off the field,” it said.

Protests against ICE in Italy

Support for the US abroad has waned as the Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance on foreign policy, including punitive tariffs, military action in Venezuela and threats to invade Greenland.

Team USA athletes cheered during the opening ceremony, but boos and boos could be heard as Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, were shown on stadium screens waving American flags from the stands.

Several protests erupted in Milan against the local deployment of ICE agents — even after it was clarified that they are from an investigative unit that is completely separate from the enforcement unit that spearheads the US immigration crackdown.

Thousands of protesters took part in the protests on Saturday. Towards the end, a small part of them clashed with the police, who fired tear gas and a water cannon. That followed another last week, when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.