Trump invites ‘Governor Trudeau’ to watch 4 Nations final in D.C.

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U.S. President Donald Trump won’t attend tonight’s politically-charged 4 Nations Face-Off final between Team USA and Team Canada, but he’s invited “Governor Trudeau” to watch it with him.

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In a Truth Social post on Thursday morning, Trump said he would call the American squad to offer them a pep talk for the evening game at TD Garden in Boston.

“I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State,” he wrote.

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The President said he’ll be in Washington meeting with Governors and added that Justin Trudeau “would be most welcome” to watch the game with them.

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The National Post has again contacted the Prime Minister’s Office to see if Trudeau will attend the deciding game. He previously attended USA-Canada tilt in Montreal on Saturday night.

Earlier in the week, Team USA’s General Manager extended an informal invite to Trump, telling FOX News hosts the team “would love it if” he attended.

“We have a room full of proud American players and coaches and staff. And listen, we’re just trying to represent our country the best way we can,” Bill Guerin said on Monday before the exhibition tournament’s round-robin had ended that evening and the championship game combatants were decided.

The final is a rematch of the teams’ first game against one another, a raucous affair that started with three fights in the first nine seconds, all of which were later revealed to have been planned by Team USA players to “send a message.”

The U.S. went on to win 3-1, securing its spot in the final.

Prior to that game, Canadian fans at the Bell Centre in Montreal lustily booed the U.S. national anthem before offering a spirited rendition of O Canada.

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A survey by Casino.org asked 2,000 Canadian sports fans about the anthem jeering and discovered that three-quarters feel it is a warranted form of protest that has bolstered their pride in Canada. Asked if they would participate, less than a third would (31 per cent) “at every opportunity.”

Not surprisingly, Trump’s threatened tariffs (91 per cent) his 51st state rhetoric (77 per cent) are among the chief reasons for the boos, but 66 per cent said it was because Canadians “dislike Trump in general.”

Interestingly, 69 per cent of respondents deemed an equivalent response from American fans as “unnecessary.”

“It’s a spark for Canadian nationalism and Canadian unity,” the University of British Columbia’s David Tindall told the Vancouver Sun. “Canadians may be nice, but they are not going to roll over.”

However, the sociology professor cautioned that however insignificant, besmirching the anthem could lend itself to establishing “an anti-Canadian” narrative in the U.S.

Meanwhile, a Rogers survey of 1,015 Canadians this week shows about 60 per cent of those “aware of the tournament say a Canada victory would be even more meaningful given the threats to Canada’s economy and economic sovereignty. And four in 10 say a victory will increase their pride in Canada.”

Game time is 8 p.m. EST.

It was supposed to be a game that didn’t matter. Except it does to us

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