Donald Trump has bizarrely claimed that China will ‘end ice hockey if they take over Canada’ after the two nations recently struck a trade deal.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney reached an agreement with Chinese president Xi Jinping earlier this month, slashing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and Canadian canola oil.
When asked about how he will respond to their deal, Trump warned Canada that China will ‘take over’ their country and abolish hockey.
‘If they (Canada) do a deal with China, we will do something very substantial,’ the president said.
‘I have a great relationship with China and President Xi but we don’t want China to take over Canada.
‘If they make the deal that he’s looking to make, China will take over Canada and the first thing they’re going to do is end ice hockey.’
Donald Trump has bizarrely claimed that China will ‘end ice hockey if they take over Canada’
Mark Carney struck an agreement with Chinese president Xi Jinping earlier this month
It’s certainly not the first time Trump has used hockey in his bizarre threats to Canada over their relations with China.
‘China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social last week.
Carney and Xi Jinping agreed on a raft of measures from trade to tourism at the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in Beijing in eight years earlier this month.
The Canadian leader hailed a ‘landmark deal’ under a ‘new strategic partnership’ with China, turning the page on years of diplomatic spats, tit-for-tat arrests and tariff disputes.
Carney has sought to reduce his country’s reliance on the United States, its key economic partner and traditional ally, as Trump has aggressively raised tariffs on Canadian products.
Under the deal, China – which used to be Canada’s largest market for canola seed – is expected to reduce tariffs on canola products by March 1 to around 15 per cent, down from the current 84 per cent.
China will also allow Canadian visitors to enter the country visa-free. In turn, Canada will import 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) under new, preferential tariffs of 6.1 per cent.
Xi has had a busy few weeks receiving Western allies seeking warmer ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
America’s closest allies are exploring opportunities with China following clashes with Trump
U.K. prime minister Keir Starmer landed in Beijing this week to repair ties that have been strained for years, and German chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected there next month.
Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo also was among the latest leaders from Europe to shake hands with Xi.
In a major shift to the world order since Trump took office again, America´s closest partners are exploring opportunities with China following clashes with Trump over tariffs and his demands to take over Greenland from NATO ally Denmark.
Despite the risk of irking Trump, they are resetting relations with a country long seen as a top adversary to many Western allies and the top economic rival to the U.S.
