U.S. President Donald Trump is voicing his support for hockey legend Wayne Gretzky while suggesting the former NHLer isn’t keen on the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state.
Gretzky has drawn the ire of some Canadians in recent weeks due to his affiliation with Trump, who has threatened Canada with steep tariffs and talked about making the country the “51st state” while mockingly referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor.”
Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Wednesday to say Gretzky is a proud Canadian.
Wayne Gretzky is a fantastic guy! They call him, “The Great One,” and he is. He could run for any political office in Canada, and win. Wayne is my friend, and he wants to make me happy, and is therefore somewhat “low key” about Canada remaining a separate Country, rather than…
“Wayne is my friend, and he wants to make me happy, and is therefore somewhat ‘low key’ about Canada remaining a separate country, rather than becoming a cherished and beautiful 51st State,” the president wrote.
“Wayne and Janet, his wonderful wife, love Canada, and they should only support Canada, and whatever else makes the Canadian People, and Governor Justin Trudeau, happy.”
Apart from being the NHL’s all-time points leader, Gretzky helped Canada to victory over the Soviet Union in 1987 and selected the 2002 Canadian team that beat the U.S. for gold in the Salt Lake City Olympics.
But the Great One’s association with the president — he attended Trump’s inauguration and his election night party — has rubbed some Canadians the wrong way.
Columnist Bruce Arthur says Canada’s choice of Wayne Gretzky as honorary captain seemed oddly disconnected from the current moment.
The anger appeared to come to a head during the final game of the NHL’s 4 Nations tournament, where Gretzky was introduced as Canada’s honourary captain.
TSN reporter Dave Naylor called out Gretzky’s affiliation with the U.S. president in a post on X.
“Just going to state this matter-of-factly … the honorary captain for Canada in this game publicly supports a political leader whose position is that Canada should not exist as a nation,” he wrote.
Freelance hockey writer Ken Campbell said choosing Gretzky was “tone deaf,” while University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau said it was a “lousy choice.”
In his post on Wednesday, Trump seemed to be aware of some of the resentment toward Gretzky.
“He’s the greatest Canadian of them all, and I am therefore making him a ‘free agent,’ because I don’t want anyone in Canada to say anything bad about him,” the president wrote.
“He supports Canada the way it is, as he should, even though it’s not nearly as good as it could be as part of the greatest and most powerful country in the world.”
