It took Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada just minutes to tap out his reaction to his nation’s victory over the United States in an international hockey championship final on Thursday in Boston.
“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Mr. Trudeau wrote on X.
Ahead of the match, the stakes were high for Canada, the birthplace of hockey. For weeks, President Trump has threatened to devastate the Canadian economy with tariffs and mockingly belittled the nation by suggesting it become the United States’ 51st state.
Mr. Trudeau’s swift riposte after the game tapped into an anger that has simmered across Canada since Mr. Trump took office on Jan. 20. His message was echoed from across the political aisle. “The true North, strong, free and golden,” Pierre Poilievre, Canada’s opposition leader, wrote on X.
The political tensions had been spilling over into sports arenas for weeks; the U.S. national anthem was loudly booed at N.B.A. and N.H.L. games in Canada.
That did not deter Mr. Trump from repeating his taunt before the championship game.
“I think they have to become the 51st state,” he said during a speech on Thursday in Washington. “And you heard the people booing the national anthem, but I think ultimately they’ll be praising the national anthem.”
Mr. Trump went on to refer to Mr. Trudeau as “governor,” which he has done often in recent weeks.
Mr. Trump also called the U.S. team to express his support. At the White House, his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said he was looking forward to watching the game. “And we look forward to the United States beating our soon-to-be 51st state, Canada,” she said.
Later, there were some boos at the Boston arena as Chantal Kreviazuk, a Canadian musician, sang “O Canada.”
There was a twist in her rendition too. She changed the words “in all of us command” to “that only us command.” Ms. Kreviazuk said on Instagram that the change was in response to the talk of annexation.
Mr. Trump’s repeated digs have had a unifying effect in Canada, forging a rare consensus among the public and the political class despite the country going through one of its most divided political periods in recent history.
A survey published last month by the Angus Reid Institute, a research center, found that 90 percent of Canadian respondents were opposed to being a part of the United States.
The political significance of a win was not lost on the team, Jon Cooper, the Team Canada coach, said after the game on Thursday.
“Not only, like, our team, but Canada needed a win,” Mr. Cooper said. “This one was different. This wasn’t a win for themselves. This was a win for 40-plus million people.”
