Trump welcomes Olympic athletes to the White House

Photo courtesy @TeamUSA/Twitter

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is welcoming Team USA Olympic athletes to the White House.

Trump applauded the athletes gathered Friday morning on the north portico and congratulated them on their medals.

Trump also appears to again be taking credit for the crowds who attended the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Trump says the numbers "were not looking good" until things changed. He says, "I think you know why."

Several members of the U.S. team, including Gus Kenworthy, Adam Rippon, Nathan Chen and Lindsey Vonn, had said they wouldn't go to the White House if invited.

Hosting Olympic athletes is a decades-old tradition at the White House. There have been notable absences over the years regardless of who is in office.