President-elect Donald Trump mocked Canada in his annual Christmas message by suggesting that the Trump-supporting ex-hockey star Wayne Gretzky be a candidate for prime minister “or governor.”
“I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in Ice Hockey circles,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Christmas Day. “I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as the Governor of Canada – You would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign.’”
Trump added: “He had no interest, but I think the people of Canada should start a DRAFT WAYNE GRETZKY Movement. It would be so much fun to watch!”
Social media erupted after Gretzky and his family were spotted at an election night party for Trump last month. Photos of “The Great One” in a white Make America Great Again hat surfaced from the Mar-a-Lago shindig.
Gretzky, 63, was seen with his wife Janet, his daughter Paulina, and son-in-law Dustin Johnson.
“Gretzky was my idol growing up so this stings. A lot,” one X user wrote.
Wayne Gretzky, left, with Justin Trudeau, the man Trump would like to see him replace, at the state funeral of former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal on March 23, 2024 (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“[I’ve] been a huge fan of Wayne Gretzky since he entered pro hockey with the WHA with the Racers, I have always [idolized] the man, this is very disappointing to see that he would support a man with such low character,” another said.
“So disappointed in the Gretzky family. I looked up to you since I was a child. You were the role model for decency and family. All my memories are now tarnished and I will no longer think of you as one of the greats on and off the ice,” a third said.
Trump also wished a “Merry Christmas” to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, writing that the country’s “Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60 percent, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World.”
Trump has spent the month and a half since the election mocking Canada and Trudeau by referring to the country as the “51st state” and the prime minister as its “governor.”
Gretzky competes in the Match Superstars at The Breakers on October 16, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump admitted the hockey legend had little interest in taking up frontline politics (Getty Images)
The moniker came to life after the election when Trudeau traveled down to Mar-a-Lago in an attempt to dissuade Trump from slapping massive tariffs on the country once he’s in office for a second time. Trump joked during a dinner with the prime minister that Canada simply could join the United States as its 51st state and that Trudeau could stay on as its governor.
Trump called the meeting “very productive,” adding on Truth Social that they discussed “many important topics,” such as immigration, fentanyl, and trade.
“Thanks for dinner last night, President Trump. I look forward to the work we can do together, again,” Trudeau wrote late last month on X.
Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time that much of the meeting focused on the “drug crisis that has decimated so many lives.”
“I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our Citizens become victims to the scourge of this Drug Epidemic, caused mainly by the Drug Cartels, and Fentanyl pouring in from China,” Trump wrote. “Prime Minister Trudeau has made a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation.”
