Ontario premier doesn’t back down against Trump, Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticizes
Ontario premier doesn’t back down against Trump, posts video of Reagan opposing tariffs
Ontario Premier Doug Ford didn’t back down and says Canada and the U.S. are friends, neighbors and allies and Reagan knew that both are stronger together
The leader of Canada’s most populous province posted comments on social media Friday by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in which Reagan is seen opposing the tariffs. Hours later, President Donald Trump announced that he was halting “all trade talks” with Canada because a television ad Trump said was mischaracterized as opposing the tariffs.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford did not hold back, saying that Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies “and Reagan knew that together they are stronger.” Ford then provided a link to a speech by Reagan in which the late president opposes the tariffs.
On Thursday, Trump posted, “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has announced that Canada fraudulently used an ad, which is fake, that appears to feature Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about the tariffs.”
On Friday, Trump doubled down on his criticism of Ontario’s ad, accusing Canada of trying to influence an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on its global tariff system.
Trump’s call for an abrupt end to the talks has further heightened trade tensions between the neighbors and longtime allies.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week that he is working to double his country’s exports to countries outside the United States in the face of Trump’s threat to impose tariffs. Canadian officials are ready to continue talks to reduce tariffs in certain areas, he said.
“We cannot control U.S. trade policy. We recognize that policy has changed fundamentally since the 1980s,” Carney said Friday morning before boarding a flight to Asia. “We have to focus on what we can control and understand what we cannot control.”
Carney is trying to secure a trade deal with Trump, but the tariffs are having a wide-ranging impact, especially on aluminum, steel, cars and lumber.
The Ontario government paid nearly $75 million Canadian ($54 million US) for ads that aired on multiple American television stations using audio and video of former President Reagan’s 1987 speech on tariffs.
On Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute X posted that an ad created by the Ontario government “misrepresents the ‘President’s Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” It also said Ontario did not obtain the foundation’s permission to “use and edit the comments.”
The foundation said it was “reviewing legal options on this matter” and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan’s speech.
Ford said earlier this week that he had heard that Trump had seen the ad.
“I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said.
Ford said the goal is to “blast” the pro-trade message to Americans, especially in Republican districts.
“It’s real, because it was coming from the best president this country has ever had, Ronald Reagan,” Ford said. “I think Reagan Republicans will fight the MAGA group, and hopefully Reagan Republicans will win.”
Ford is a popular conservative who is not a member of the same party as Carney, a liberal.
Trump has been threatening Canada’s economy and sovereignty with tariffs, most aggressively claiming that Canada could become the “51st state.”
Jason Kenney, a former Conservative cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, called Trump’s posts “just embarrassing.”
“The Ontario ad does not misrepresent President Reagan’s anti-tariff radio address in any way. It is a direct rehash of his radio address, formatted for a one-minute ad,” Kenney posted on social media.
“Everything Reagan said in his pro-free trade radio message in April 1987 is consistent with the ad. In fact, everything he said about trade before and after he became president is consistent with his principled opposition to tariffs.”
Kenney also attacked the Reagan Foundation.
“They know full well that the Ontario ad accurately portrays President Reagan’s opposition to tariffs and support for free trade. But it is clear that the Foundation now has unstable leadership that is easily intimidated by a call from the White House, another sign of Trump’s highly corrosive influence on the American conservative movement,” he posted.
