President Trump and Matthew Tkachuk fawn over each other at the White House today

The Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were welcomed to the White House by U.S. President Donald Trump today, on a day where the entire world watches escalating tensions between the United States and Canada.

Trump, of course, has made international headlines for threatening Canada with 25% import tariffs forcing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to counter with an identical 25% import tariff. The two sides have now reportedly called off the tariff threats after Trump claims that Trudeau agreed to strengthen the border between the two nations.

Amongst all this sociopolitical chaos, the Panthers descended upon the White House for the annual Stanley Cup day at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Here's Trump welcoming the team with a bit of a rambling speech that had references to Wayne Gretzky and Marty McSorley:

The best moment though came when Panthers superstar Matthew Tkachuk, clearly an admirer or Trump and a proud American, stepped to the microphone to address the President. I can't help but notice that Trump's eyelashes are batting at Tkachuk pretty aggressively... odd, but whatever...

Check it out:

These two seem quite smitten with each other. How lovely for them.

Anyways... I'm willing to bet that the NHL is seriously considering doing away with these visits. With political tensions in the United States at an all time high I'm frankly surprised that no Panthers' players elected to sit this one out. You have to imagine it's only a matter of time until players/teams begin to make a stink about the annual White House visit and we know how badly the NHL works to avoid any kind controversy.