White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday told reporters that President Donald Trump is looking forward to watching the upcoming hockey final between the United States and Canada, referring to the country as "our soon-to-be 51st state."
Team USA is set to face Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off final on Saturday in Boston, Massachusetts. Leavitt, during a press conference on Thursday, noted that although Trump will not attend the game in person, he spoke on the phone with the American players ahead of the match.
"I know he talked to the USA hockey team this morning," Leavitt said. "He talked to the players after their morning practice around 10 o’clock, and I also spoke to some folks from that team after. They were jubilant over President Trump’s comments to the team. I believe they’re going to put out a video of that call."
She added that Trump "looks forward to watching the game tonight, and we look forward to the United States beating our soon-to-be 51st state, Canada."
Trump's repeated threats to make Canada a U.S. state have prompted Canadian fans to boo the U.S. national anthem during Team USA's match against Canada in Toronto last weekend.
"We knew it was going to happen," Team USA player Zach Werenski said after the match. "It happened the last game, it's been happening in the NHL before this, and we knew tonight was going to be the same way. We obviously don't like it."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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