As most people know, in recent months, Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested Canada should become the U.S.'s 51st state.
During a December 2024 meeting with Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago, he proposed annexation to address trade and border issues. Trump has since called Trudeau the "Governor of the Great State of Canada" and claimed many Canadians back statehood, citing potential tax cuts and improved security.
What fewer people know is that Canada's Justin Trudeau seemed to understand that Trump was serious, according to the New York Post. Trudeau said at a meeting with business leaders earlier this month: “I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state.”
“They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those. But Mr. Trump has it in mind that one of the easiest ways of doing that is absorbing our country. And it is a real thing,” he said.
And now yesterday, Trudeau used Team Canada's victory over Team U.S.A. at the 4 Nations hockey championship as an opportunity to publicly screech fire back at Trump.
“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Trudeau wrote on X.
The New York Post writes that before Thursday’s championship game, Trump, who has referred to the Canadian leader as “Governor Trudeau,” called Team USA to rally them.
“You guys are really talented. I have great respect for hockey players, I’m a hockey fan. I love hockey. The talent, the skill that you have is crazy,” he told the team in a Truth Social clip. “Just go out and have a good time tonight. I just want to wish you a lot of luck.”
According to Team USA GM Bill Guerin, Trump also briefly mentioned making Canada the 51st state during the call.
The intense USA-Canada rivalry escalated this year as politics seeped into the tournament. Canadian fans booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” during Saturday’s game in Montreal, while American fans responded by booing Chantal Kreviazuk’s rendition of “O Canada” in Thursday’s final in Boston.
Kreviazuk even changed the anthem’s lyrics from “in all of us command” to “that only us command” in protest, her rep told CBC.
The 4 Nations Face-Off, which replaced this season’s NHL All-Star Game, featured top players from the USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden in a high-energy competition.