The White House has celebrated the US’s victory over Canada in the men’s hockey final at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 with a politically charged message, sharing a social media post showing a bald eagle appearing to assault a goose – two animals that symbolise each country respectively.

The image on Sunday was in response to a 2025 post by then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that said, “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.”

Trudeau’s statement had come after Canada beat the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament, when US President Donald Trump was regularly making the case that Canada should become the 51st state of the US.

While Canadian politicians did not comment directly on the White House post, which came after the US claimed the Olympic gold medal following a 2-1 sudden-death overtime win in Italy, journalists and other observers criticised the Trump administration for its tone.

“Stay classy, America,” Stewart Prest, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, wrote in response to the post.

Journalist David Rider responded to the White House post by highlighting the dwindling number of Canadian visitors to the US.

“There should be scoreboard tallying the billions of Canadian tourism dollars lost to the US that accelerates as Trump and his White House gloat, faster than border states, Florida and Vegas can roll out their ‘come back, we love you’ campaigns,” Rider wrote on X.

After the US win on Sunday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW!.”

“LOTS OF WINNING!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he added.

US-Canada tensions

While Canada-US hockey games always ignite good-natured banter between fans, Sunday’s contest comes amid months of political tensions between the neighbouring countries.

Shortly after his election in 2024, Trump began floating the idea of annexing Canada to be the 51st state, sparking condemnation from Canadian politicians.

Once he took office early last year, the US president quickly made it clear that he views Ottawa – one of Washington’s closest allies, historically – as a rival.

Throughout the past year, Trump has imposed or threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada, often pointing to the US trade deficit with its northern neighbour.

Most recently, the US president threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canadian imports to punish Ottawa for reaching a trade deal with Beijing.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney articulated a scathing critique of Trump, without naming the US president.

He argued that the global order of accepting US hegemony in exchange for the “public good” Washington produces, which he described as a “bargain”, was no longer working.

“Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said.

“Over the past two decades, a series of crises in finance, health, energy and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, [and] supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.”

During his election campaign last year, Carney filmed an advertisement with comedian Mike Myers, in which both wore Team Canada hockey gear.

Meyer’s shirt said “Never 51”.

Trump appeared to take a special interest in Sunday’s game, sharing three different posts about it.

Meanwhile, the White House’s X account shared seven posts about the US victory.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is facing calls for resignation for suggesting he would not object if Israel were to expand across most of the Middle East, took the conversation in a widely different direction.

“What??? The guy scoring goal for 1st USA Gold Medal in hockey since 1980 is a Jew? Oh my. I’m sure the Jew-haters will say Mossad was behind it!” Huckabee wrote in a social media post.

“I say just celebrate the incredible victory for the USA & be grateful for Jack Hughes love for the USA & his teammates!”

Carney expressed pride in his country’s performance at the Olympics, including the hockey team.

“You’re coming home with 21 hard-fought Olympic medals,” he said on X. “Though what Canadians will remember most is how you wore the Maple Leaf: with pride, with grit, and with determination.”

Congressman Randy Fine, a Trump ally with a history of racist and Islamophobic statements, responded to Carney’s message with “Congratulations, Governor”, as though the prime minister were the leader of a US state, not a sovereign country.

Last year, Trump regularly referred to Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor, as “governor”.