‘Leave Ice Hockey alone!’: Trump says China is ‘taking over’ Canada

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of Global Business Leaders at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his recent jabs at Canada by saying “Canada is systematically destroying itself” and calling “the China deal” a “disaster.”

“Will go down as one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday afternoon. “All their businesses are moving to the USA. I wanted to see Canada SURVIVE AND THRIVE!”

In a following post, Trump added that China is “successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada,” and that he was “so sad” to see it happen.

“I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone!” he wrote.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy responded to Trump’s post, agreeing with the president and adding that Canada would “live to regret the day they let the Chinese Communist Party flood North America with their EVs.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney has insisted that Canada is not seeking free trade with China after Trump released a volley of social media posts on Saturday, calling Carney “governor” and threatening to slap Canada with a 100 per cent tariffs if Canada went ahead with the trade deal with China.

Last week, Carney arrived in Beijing for a bilateral trade mission. China agreed to cut tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, and Canada dramatically reduced barriers to Chinese EVs.

READ MORE: Carney reaches ‘landmark’ tariff-quota deal with China on EVs, canola

On Sunday, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told ABC the 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports would only occur if Canada and China establish a free trade deal – something Carney says is off the table.

During a scrum with reporters on Parliament Hill, the prime minister said that a special clause under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is designed to restrict any member countries from entering free-trade agreements with “non-market economies” like China.

The U.S. President’s continued criticism of the trade deal came in the footsteps of Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week – where he announced that the “old world order is not coming back.”

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha and Spencer Van Dyk