WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television ad sponsored by one of its provinces that used the words of former President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs — prompting the province’s leader to later pull the ad.
The post on Trump’s social media site Thursday night ratcheted up tensions with the U.S.’s northern neighbor after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he plans to double his country’s exports to countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. White House officials said Trump’s reaction was a culmination of the administration’s long, pent-up frustration about Canada’s strategy in trade talks.
Later Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province had sponsored the ad, said it would be taken down, though it will still run this weekend.
Ford said after talking with Prime Minister Mark Carney he’s decided to pause the advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume. Ford said they’ve achieved their goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels.
“Our intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses,” Ford said. “We’ve achieved our goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels.”
The U.S. president alleged the ad misrepresented the position of Reagan, a two-term president who remains a beloved figure in the Republican Party, and was aimed at influencing the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of a hearing scheduled for next month that could decide whether Trump has the power to impose his sweeping tariffs, a key part of his economic strategy. Trump is so invested in the case that he has said he’d like to attend oral arguments.
“You know, it’s a crooked ad,” Trump said Friday night as he left the White House for a trip to Asia, shortly after the ad aired during the seventh inning of Fox’s national broadcast of Game 1 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“They could have pulled it tonight,” Trump said. “Well, that’s dirty play — but I can play dirtier than they can, you know.”
Canadian premier digs in after Trump ends talks
The ad was paid for by Ontario’s government, not the Canadian federal government. Ford, the premier, didn’t initially back down, posting Friday that Canada and the U.S. are allies “and Reagan knew that both are stronger together.” Ford then provided a link to a Reagan speech where the late president voices opposition to tariffs.
Ford had said the province plans to pay $54 million (about $75 million Canadian) for the ads to air across multiple American television stations using audio and video of Reagan speaking about tariffs in 1987.
Ford is a populist conservative who doesn’t belong to the same party as Carney, a Liberal.
For his part, Carney said his government remains ready to continue talks to reduce tariffs in certain sectors.
“We can’t control the trade policy of the United States. We recognize that that policy has fundamentally changed from the 1980s,” he said Friday morning before boarding a flight for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Malaysia.
Trump is also traveling to the summit. But he told reporters on Air Force One that he had no intention to meet Carney there. “I don’t think there’s much they can do,” Trump said, noting he was inclined to leave the trade deal with Canada “the way it is.”
Reagan’s foundation speaks out against ad
Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that the ad “misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission “to use and edit the remarks” and said it was reviewing legal options.
The foundation in Simi Valley, California, is perhaps best known for maintaining the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Its board includes longtime Republican Party stalwarts such as former Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who resigned after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, whose free-market philosophy often clashes with Trump’s protectionist tendencies.
Another board member is Lachlan Murdoch, the son of Rupert, who is executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation. The board is chaired by Fred Ryan, the former publisher and CEO of The Washington Post.
Trump wrote on social media Thursday night that “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.” He added, “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Reagan did not actually love tariffs. He often criticized government policies — including protectionist measures such as tariffs — that interfered with free commerce and he spent much of that 1987 radio address spelling out the case against tariffs.
Blowup was a long time coming, administration officials indicate
White House spokesman Kush Desai said the ad was the “latest example of how Canadian officials would rather play games than engage with the Administration.”
Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters at the White House on Friday that Canada has shown a “lack of flexibility” and also cited “leftover behaviors from the Trudeau folks,” referring to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had a frosty relationship with the Trump administration.
“If you look at all the countries around the world that we’ve made deals with, and the fact that we’re now negotiating with Mexico separately reveals that it’s not just about one ad,” Hassett said.
Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions, as the two countries and Mexico prepare for a review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal Trump negotiated in his first term but has since soured on.
More than three-quarters of Canadian exports go to the U.S., and nearly $3.6 billion Canadian ($2.7 billion U.S.) worth of goods and services cross the border daily.
