President Donald Trump and new Canadian prime minister Mark Carney took questions during a joint press conference in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning. Trump welcomed the new Canadian leader to the White House for the first time since the former banker was elected prime minister on April 28.
The meeting comes during a rare moment of tension between the countries due to a tariff war and Trump’s rhetoric about making Canada the 51st state of America.
During the press conference, the topic briefly turned to hockey when Trump was asked about what he wants from Canada. Trump sidestepped the question, ending a 45-second answer by obliquely mentioning Alex Ovechkin and Washington Capitals players from the 2018 Stanley Cup championship team. (Video via @atrupar.)
Q: What is the top concession you want out of Canada?
Donald Trump: Concession? Friendship.
Q: That’s not a concession.
Donald Trump: I just want to be friends with Canada. Regardless of anything, we’re going to be friends with Canada. Canada is a very special place to me. I know so many people that live in Canada. My parents had relatives that lived in Canada, my mother in particular. I love Canada. I have a lot of respect for the Canadians. Wayne Gretzky, the ‘Great One.’ You happen to have a very, very good hockey player right here on the Capitals. He is a big, tough cookie too. Just broke the record, and he’s a great guy. You know, we had the team here. I got to know a lot of the players. But, no, Canada is a very special place.
(Editor’s note: Some conversation on social media supposed Trump mistakenly thought Ovechkin is Canadian, but that is unclear from the context.)
Trump’s Ovechkin reference comes exactly one month after the Capitals superstar broke Gretzky’s NHL goals record, scoring his 895th career goal at the New York Islanders’ UBS Arena. The two-term president also mentioned Ovechkin during a pre-inauguration rally and a post-inauguration celebration at Capital One Arena.
Trump and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) de facto head Elon Musk were also recently spotted together with Capitals forward TJ Oshie at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia on April 19. Oshie, an avid golfer and Trump supporter, has not played this season.
Pictures of the three sitting at a table, presumably in the club house, were posted to X by self-described pop culture political commentator Adrienne Gray.
During his first term in office, Trump hosted the Capitals’ championship team at the White House on March 25, 2019.
