WH Spox Says Trump’s Looking Forward to Team USA Beating ‘Our Soon-to-Be 51st State’ Canada in Big Hockey Game

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt referred to Canada as “our soon-to-be 51st state” while taking about the 4 Nations Face-Off.

After a fiery first game between the U.S. and Canada last Sunday, the two countries were scheduled to meet again in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship Thursday. Due to the intense nature of the first game that three fights within the first few seconds, the rematch had a lot of anticipation behind it.

Further increasing tensions between the two countries and their fanbases was the political landscape. President Donald Trump previously threatened to imposed heavy tariffs on the U.S.’s northern neighbor and has repeatedly floated the idea of annexing the country and making it the 51st state.

During Thursday afternoon’s White House briefing, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy jokingly asked if Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a bet on the championship game. Leavitt then revealed that Trump had actually spoken with Team USA’s players after the first win.

“I know he talked to the USA hockey team this morning,” Leavitt said. “He talked to the players after their morning practice around 10 o’clock; and I also spoke to some folks from that team after. They were jubilant over President Trump’s comments to the team. I believe they’re going to put out a video of that call. So he looks forward to watching the game tonight, and we look forward to the United States beating our soon-to-be 51st state, Canada.”

Watch above via CNN