'You can’t take our country': Explaining the beef behind Justin Trudeau's victory jab
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a patriotic jab at the U.S., after Canada won the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament.
"You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game," Trudeau said on X Thursday night.
Trudeau had reason to celebrate for his team, but his comment also came amid political tensions between the North American allies. President Donald Trump has stirred controversy with Canada by threatening tariffs and talking about making Canada part of the U.S.
At other games in the tournament, fans from the two countries have booed each other's national anthems, with seemingly more behind it than a competitive spirit.
Here is the current tension between the U.S. and Canada, explained:
Trump has talked about making Canada 'the 51st state'
Trump has ramped up his talk of annexing Canada since taking office.
"I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state," Trump said on his way to the Super Bowl in early February, doubling down on earlier remarks.
The threats had already drawn pushback from Trudeau, who said "there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that Canada would become part of the United States," shortly after Trudeau announced his resignation in January.
The White House's talk of annexation has bled into competitive comments about the tournament.
"We look forward to the United States beating our soon-to-be 51st state, Canada," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a briefing Thursday.
Trump orders tariffs on Canada, top US trade partner
Trump signed orders on Feb. 1 issuing tariffs of up to 25% against Canada − in addition to tariffs on imports from Mexico and China − that were scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 4.
Following talks with Trudeau, who agreed to help with border security, Trump paused the tariffs from going into effect for 30 days. (Trump's original executive orders issuing the 25% tariff against Canadian goods carved out an exception for Canadian energy including natural gas and oil, which would have been met with a lower rate of 10%.)
Trudeau said Wednesday he is focused on ensuring the tariffs don't go into effect, according to Reuters.
The trade moves against the northern ally have angered and shocked Canadians, who have booed at the U.S. national anthem at various sporting events this year.
Contributing: James Powel, Phillip M. Bailey, Jace Evans
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at Paste BN. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com, and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.