Star-Mangled Banner? Canadian sports fans boo US anthem after Trump tariffs

Canadian sports fans booed the US national anthem at basketball and ice hockey matches over the weekend after US President Donald Trump announced steep tariffs on his country’s northern neighbour.

The jeers from usually respectful supporters were heard at an NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, and NHL matches between Canadian teams and visiting US sides in Ottawa, Ontario and Alberta on Saturday night.

Trump declared an economic emergency on Saturday to place tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico, and 10% on imports from China. Energy imported from Canada — including oil, natural gas and electricity — will be taxed at a lower 10% rate.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered retaliatory tariffs on goods from the US in response.

At the NBA match in Toronto on Sunday, Raptors fans initially cheered the 15-year-old girl singing the anthems but booed during her performance of The Star-Spangled Banner.

At the end, mixed boos and cheers could be heard before the crowd burst into applause for the Canadian national anthem, O Canada.

There were also boos on Sunday night during a performance of the US national anthem when the NHL’s Canucks hosted the Detroit Red Wings in Vancouver.

“I mean, it’s too bad, right? It is what it is,” Red Wings forward Patrick Kane, who was born in New York, said after Detroit’s win. “I guess you can maybe understand it from this side, but it seems like it’s a thing that’s going around the league right now.”

While booing the US national anthem is a rare occurrence in Canada, it happened at matches in the early 2000s as a show of disapproval of the US-led war against Iraq.

Writing on his Truth Social platform on Sunday afternoon, Trump repeated his call for Canada to become a US state and said that the US pays “hundreds of billions of dollars” to subsidise its neighbour.

“Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable country,” Trump wrote. “Therefore, Canada should become our cherished 51st state.”

Trump’s comments came a day after Trudeau ordered retaliatory tariffs of 25% on US imports worth a total of 155 billion Canadian dollars (€103 billion).

“We’re certainly not looking to escalate, but we will stand up for Canada,” Trudeau said late on Saturday. He also addressed US citizens directly, saying that the tariffs “will have real consequences for you”.