Trump was asked about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping working to improve trade cooperation when his answer took a sudden turn.
“It’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China,” Trump said. “Canada’s not doing well. They’re doing very poorly and you can’t look at China as the answer.”
China and Canada earlier this month struck a deal to reduce tariffs on canola and electric vehicles, and agreed to work on increasing cooperation.
Trump ― who has long had a tense relationship with Canada ― hasn’t been happy about that, threatening tariffs of up to 100% against Canada, and lashed out again in his Thursday comments.
“I know China very well, I know President Xi, he’s a friend of mine, I know him very well,” Trump said. “The first thing they’re gonna do is say you’re not allowed to play ice hockey anymore. That’s not good. Canada’s not gonna like that.”
Trump began his return to the White House by pushing for Canada to become a U.S. state. Relations between the two nations have remained tense, and Trump was especially angry after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney received a standing ovation for a speech in Davos urging “middle powers” to stand up to the United States.
His latest claim ― that China would somehow force Canada to stop playing one of its two national sports ― got a chilly reception on X: