As Team Canada takes to the ice at the 2026 Winter Olympics with gold medal dreams, Donald Trump has delivered some unsettling news to hockey fans north of the border: Canadian hockey as we know it could be coming to an end!
At least, according to him.
On Monday night, the U.S. president took his escalating feud with Canada to a new level, claiming that if Canada makes trade deals with China, the Chinese government will somehow “terminate ALL ice hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate the Stanley Cup.”
Yes, you read that correctly.
The bizarre statement came in a lengthy Truth Social rant where Trump threatened to block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge — a 1.6-mile suspension bridge spanning the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario and Michigan.
The bridge threat
In his post, Trump accused Canada of “taking advantage of America” by building and owning both sides of the new border crossing. He claimed the U.S. gets “absolutely NOTHING” from the arrangement and demanded negotiations begin immediately.
“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them,” Trump wrote. “With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset.”
The president specifically called out former President Barack Obama for granting Canada a waiver around the Buy American Act, allowing the bridge to be built “with virtually no U.S. content, including our Steel.”
Trump also criticized Ontario’s ongoing boycott of U.S. liquor, noting that American spirits and alcoholic beverages remain banned from provincial liquor store shelves since the policy was implemented last February in multiple provinces, including Quebec.
The hockey conspiracy theory
But it was Trump’s comments about hockey that really turned heads.
Warning that Prime Minister Mark Carney “wants to make a deal with China — which will eat Canada alive,” Trump predicted dire consequences for Canada’s national pastime.
“The first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup,” he wrote.
Trump provided no explanation for how exactly China would accomplish this, or why a Chinese government would prioritize ending hockey in Canada.
For context, the Stanley Cup is owned and administered by the National Hockey League, a North American professional sports league with teams in both the U.S. and Canada. It’s unclear how China would gain control over it or why they’d want to.
About the bridge
Named after legendary Detroit Red Wings player and Canadian hockey icon Gordie Howe, the new bridge has been under construction since 2018 and was entirely funded by the Canadian government, which will recoup costs through bridge tolls.
Trump originally supported the project, issuing a joint statement with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017 that said they “look forward to the expeditious completion” of the project.
The bigger picture
This latest outburst comes as tensions between Trump and Carney continue to escalate.
Last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump directly called out Carney by name, saying, “Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.”
The comment came one day after Canada’s prime minister warned at the same forum that great powers had begun “using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion.”
Trump has also repeatedly posted memes about the conflict, including altered maps showing Canada as U.S. territory, and continues to float the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state.
With stricter border measures in place and an ongoing trade war between the two nations showing no signs of cooling down, Trump’s latest threat adds yet another bizarre chapter to what’s become an increasingly unpredictable relationship between the longtime allies.
In the meantime, at least Canadians can still count on being able to lace up their skates. For now.
