U.S. president-elect Donald Trump says he instructed Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky throughout a Christmas Day go to that he ought to run for prime minister of Canada.
“I simply left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Nice One’ as he’s recognized in ice-hockey circles,” Trump posted on his Reality Social platform Wednesday afternoon.
“I mentioned, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for prime minister of Canada, quickly to be referred to as the governor of Canada — you’d win simply, you wouldn’t even should marketing campaign.’ He had no curiosity,” Trump wrote.
His remark about being governor of Canada refers to Trump repeatedly suggesting the nation turn into a U.S. state, which Ottawa insists is a joke.
Trump added that it might be “enjoyable to observe” if Canadians launched a motion to get the retired hockey participant to hunt workplace.
The Canadian Press has tried to contact Gretzky by means of his brokers.
Specialists have mentioned that Ottawa is rightfully centered on the prospect of damaging tariffs underneath the looming Trump presidency as a substitute of pushing again on rhetoric about annexing or buying Canada.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leads a minority authorities that may very well be toppled by a confidence vote subsequent yr, following the shock resignation of finance minister Chrystia Freeland.
Trump additionally expressed Christmas greetings to Trudeau, once more referring to him as a governor and claiming that Canadians would see a tax reduce of greater than 60 per cent if the nation grew to become an American state.
“Their companies would instantly double in measurement, and they’d be militarily protected like no different nation wherever on the earth,” Trump wrote in a submit that additionally alluded to his need to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Gretzky has beforehand backed Conservative politicians, similar to former Ontario Progressive Conservative chief Patrick Brown throughout his run for the social gathering management.
Throughout the 2015 federal election, Conservative chief Stephen Harper interviewed Gretzky in entrance of a whole bunch of supporters because the Tories unsuccessfully sought re-election.
On the occasion, Gretzky instructed Harper he thought he had been an “unreal prime minister” who had been “great to the entire nation.”
Gretzky later mentioned he all the time follows a first-rate minister’s request, no matter political stripe, noting he had as soon as hosted a lunch for former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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