‘This Kind of C---’—Canada’s Jesse Marsch Takes Shot at President Trump

Canada is looking for a third straight win against the USMNT.

Jesse Marsch is an American working in Canada. | Omar Vega/Getty Images

Jesse Marsch is “honored and really proud” to be Canada men’s national team coach. As an American abroad, he feels he is able to have a “unique perspective” on things, like Donald Trump’s executive order from August renaming Lake Ontario.

“Here we are now, the big talk in America is Lake Ontario, Lake America, this kind of c---,” Marsch said this week, ahead of Canada preparing to face the USMNT in Minnesota.

A day earlier, Marsch claimed: “We, as Americans, have been inundated with propaganda since we were young. We’re the No. 1 country in the world, we deserve everything, we dominate everything, No. 1 in every aspect of life.

As a result, he said, Americans “feel like we deserve to be treated differently because we’re Americans” if things happen a certain way and “we don’t feel like we’re in control of it.” Marsch used the example of the Folarin Balogun red card to illustrate his point, adding more broadly, “That is one of the things that infuriates the rest of the world about Americans. And Americans don’t know that if they don’t ever leave the country.”

Canada, Marsch said, is a “little bit more European than the U.S. anyway,” politically, economically. He backs the possibility of Canada, debuting as an entrant in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, becoming an associate member of the European Union—“I like that aspect.”

“There’s a uniqueness to Canada in terms of how truly multiethnic this country has become. You can see that Canada is not just a North American country any more, you know? That bodes well for our sport and for the makeup of our team, the makeup of our fans.”

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Why Marsch Feels Able to Speak Out

Marsch has led CanMNT since 2024. | Ayman Aref/NurPhoto/Getty Images

The next day, Marsch told reporters at a press conference he is still “not afraid to say things that sometimes need to be said or that I feel should be said ... whether people agree or not.

“I get that it’s not always the job of a sports person to put themselves in the forefront of the political environments and everything else, but I’ve had a unique perspective.”

Marsch, who played his whole career in America but has since worked as a coach in Austria, Germany and England, insisted there is “definitely no grudge” towards the USMNT.

“People want to take it that way, which is fine,” he said. “I don’t mind. People can, I think you know me well enough to know that I don’t really care what people think too much.”

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USMNT-Canada Rivalry ‘Better Than It’s Ever Been’

No grudge does not mean no rivalry. | Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images

There is, however, a rivalry and it’ s a “big” one.

“[The players] don’t need reminders when we play the U.S.,” Marsch offered. “But, to be fair, it’s different with Mexico, but because we have respect for the U.S., because we have respect for Mexico, we want to continue to show that we are on the level that they are or above them. And the best way to do that is to perform and win."

“If you look at recent tournaments, we did better [than the USMNT] at Copa América. We were equal to Mexico and the U.S. in the World Cup. I think institutionally, Concacaf still looks at this as a region that’s about Mexico or U.S. … where we need to continue to establish ourselves.

“If we want to step into those moments and have that respect, you need to beat them sometimes. I think of course a lot of the people in the U.S. talk about Mexico being their biggest rival, but we know we feel like we’re in that conversation as well in terms of our quality and what we’ve done not only in the past, but what we can do leading up to as well.

“You’ve seen some of these games get feisty and be a fight because they don’t want to lose either. I think when you’re at the top, you don't want anyone that’s below you to take that power.

“I think the rivalry is better than it’s ever been, more because the two teams are good.”

Canada is on the brink of equaling its longest-ever winning run against the USMNT. The Canucks have won the last two meetings, compared to 17 meetings without a win from 1985–2019, but hasn’t won three in a row against its southern neighbor since 1968.

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