US President Donald Trump was presented with the Order of Ikkos medal by an emotional Kaillie Humphries. This happened during a White House ceremony on March 12. It’s a rare moment where an athlete honors a president for contributions to their Olympic journey.
Kaillie Humphries gives Donald Trump a medal as she gets teary-eyed
Humphries, a bobsledder, won two bronze medals for Team USA at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. She became emotional while discussing her IVF journey before presenting Donald Trump with a medal at the Women’s History Month event.
The naturalized U.S. citizen from Canada explained the significance of the Order of Ikkos. It is a medal that every Team USA medal-winning athlete can present to someone instrumental in their success. “Every Olympic medalist in the United States gets an Order of Ikkos that they get to hand to somebody in honor and recognition of somebody who’s made a meaningful contribution to their journey to the podium, because Olympic medals are never achieved alone,” Humphries said.
After attendees applauded, Trump tapped Humphries on the shoulder and told the crowd, “I knew I liked her.” The Olympian cited two specific reasons for presenting Trump with a medal. His stance on keeping biological women in women’s sports and his policies expanding IVF access. “I believe this actually makes you the first president in history to ever be awarded an Order of Ikkos as well,” Humphries added.
Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 to protect access to IVF and reduce costs. That same month, he signed Executive Order 14201, the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order, restricting transgender women from competing on women’s sports teams.
In July 2025, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee implemented policies aligning with Executive Order 14201. All in all, stating it remains “committed to protecting opportunities for athletes participating in sport.”
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu for Mandatory.
