Canadian Sports Fans Are Booing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’

Donald Trump has trained his sights on the closest geographical allies of the United States: Canada and Mexico. The president announced that he will impose 25 percent tariffs on both nations, a bewildering but sadly not surprising decision that is expected to cause the prices of an untold number of goods to skyrocket for American consumers. Trump acknowledged as much on Sunday, posting on Truth Social that could be “SOME PAIN” but it will be “WORTH THE PRICE” because it will usher in “THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA.”

Canada and Mexico both plan to implement retaliatory tariffs. Trump is expected to talk with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum today, but he seems pretty dead set on launching what the conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board described as “the dumbest trade war in history.”

The move is not going over well among the citizens of Trump’s targets, perhaps most notably evinced by Canadian sports fans now booing the hell out of the “Star-Spangled Banner” when it is played before a Canadian basketball or hockey team plays a home game against an American opponent.

Here are fans of the Vancouver Canucks booing the anthem before their teams played the Detroit Red Wings at home on Sunday night:

The Toronto Raptors hosted the Los Angeles Clippers on the other side of the country on Sunday. The same scene unfolded as the “Star-Spangled Banner” played before the game.

It’s been happening all weekend, and understandably so given Trump’s insistence that Canada be punished for, as Trump put it in another post on Sunday, continuing its “decades long RIPOFF OF AMERICA, both with regard to TRADE, CRIME, AND POISONOUS DRUGS that are allowed to so freely flow into AMERICA.”

Trudeau said on Saturday that Canadians “are a little perplexed as to why our closest friends and neighbors are choosing to target us instead of so many other challenging parts of the world.”

“I don’t think there are many Americans who wake up in the morning and say, ‘Damn, Canada. We should really go after Canada,’” he continued.

Trump seems to be barrelling ahead, regardless, and on Sunday he again teased his absurd idea that Canada should become America’s “Cherished 51st State,” writing that without the United States subsidizing it Canada wouldn’t be able to exist as its own nation.

Trump better be careful what he wishes. If the scene inside Canada’s sports arenas over the weekend is any indication, its citizens aren’t going to be very supportive of the Republican agenda.