President Trump Calls Team USA Ahead Of 4 Nations Championship, VP Vance Sends Message: “Kick Canada’s A** Again”

Quinn Eaton·
CULTURESPORTS
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Team USA locker room
Team USA Hockey

A big time phone call ahead of a big time game.

To cut right to the chase, the 4 Nations Face-Off has been an incredible success for the NHL and the sport of hockey at large. The league has managed to create a seismic event, pitting the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden against one another in a round-robin tournament that replaced this year’s NHL All Star event.

Judging by the response (and the ratings) to the event, it would be absurd for the NHL to ever go back to the traditional all star format.

And I have to give credit where credit is due… the timing of President Donald Trump’s tariffs affecting Canada (which have since been paused) definitely helped foster a more tense relationship between America and it’s northern neighbor. The new trend of booing national anthems – specifically “The Star Spangled Banner” – has led to a rise in the rivalry between Canada and the United States.

That was made evident by the two country’s first matchup, which featured three fights in the first nine seconds:

There’s no other way to put it… that’s badass.

Canada and Team USA are facing off one against in the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship, which takes place tonight at 8 ET (be there or be square). I’d argue that a couple of months ago, most casual sports fans had no idea the NHL had even replaced their all-star game. Now? This conclusion to the round-robin tournament is one of the biggest sporting events of 2025.

The anticipation for the matchup was only increased by President Donald Trump sending out a message today letting everyone know that he’d be calling the USA hockey team to wish them luck. Oh, and to stir the pot a bit, the POTUS also shared that he still hopes that Canada will be America’s 51st state in the near future:

“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.

I will be speaking before the Governors tonight in D.C., and will sadly, therefore, be unable to attend. But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome. Good luck to everybody, and have a GREAT game tonight. So exciting!”

Bummer that the President can’t make it to the game, but I’m sure he’ll be there in spirit.

Though USA Hockey didn’t share a video of the phone call, they did post a photo of the team from during the phone call, and America’s best looked like they were all smiles talking to Trump. After all, it’s not everyday that you get a phone call from the President wishing you luck in your contest:

Oh to be a fly on the wall in that locker room.

Needless to say, Team USA got a boost from the phone call, and it’ll be cool to see how they come out in tonight’s championship game. Could they go on another scoring spree? Could they once again drop their gloves before the game even begins? Only time will tell, I suppose. All we do know is that forward J.T. Miller said it was an honor to hear from the Commander in Chief ahead of their championship:

“It was so awesome to get his support. It’s a pretty big deal for him to take time out of his schedule to talk to us for five minutes.”

Five minute phone call for THE REST OF OUR LIVES! USA! USA! USA!

Vice President JD Vance also weighed in, asking Team USA to “kick their a**es again.”

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