Donald Trump announced that all trade negotiations with Canada have been ‘terminated’ over a local commercial that used Ronald Reagan to attack the president over his tariffs.
The spot was part of a $75million CAN campaign to push back against the strategy by the province of Ontario – Canada’s largest province – which is run by Premier Doug Ford, a conservative who has slammed Trump in the past.
Trump railed against the campaign on Truth Social as he made his announcement late Thursday.
‘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 wrote.
‘They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts. 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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT.’
The 60-second ad pulls from a 1987 radio address made by Reagan as he ironically explained why he was placing tariffs on Japanese electronics.
‘But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer,’ Reagan said.
‘High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.’
Donald Trump announced that all trade negotiations with Canada have been ‘terminated’ over a local commercial that used Ronald Reagan to attack the president over his tariffs
The one-minute ad excerpts a 1987 radio address by Reagan to justify imposing 100 percent tariffs on Japanese electronics over a trade dispute over semiconductors
The one-minute ad excerpts a 1987 radio address by Reagan to justify imposing 100 percent tariffs on Japanese electronics over a trade dispute over semiconductors.
However, The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute has said the late president is being taken out of context.
‘The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks,’ they tweeted Thursday.
The institute adds that it is ‘reviewing its legal options in this matter’ before linking people to the full address Reagan gave.
Ford said that the ad buy was meant to tell Americans the negative effects tariffs would have against them.
‘We’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country,’ he said last week, according to Politico.
Ford has now created a mess for Prime Minister Mark Carney, who leads Canada’s left-leaning Liberal Party, Ford’s Conservatives’ biggest competition.
Carney had largely been developing a positive relationship with Trump after the president had threatened to annex Canada under his predecessor, Justin Trudeau.
The spot was part of a $75million CAN campaign to push back against the strategy by the province of Ontario – Canada’s largest province – which is run by Premier Doug Ford (pictured center), a conservative who has slammed Trump in the past
Ford has now created a mess for Prime Minister Mark Carney (pictured), who leads Canada’s left-leaning Liberal Party, Ford’s Conservatives’ biggest competition
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox Business last week that the Carney administration was ‘much more centrist, much more interested in exploiting their energy resources’ than Trudeau.
‘We’re developing a great relationship with them, if that means that we have tariffs and we’ll have tariffs but I think there are ways to cooperate with Canadians on things that are of mutual interest to us both.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Greer, Carney and Ford for comment.
Ford was one of the most vocal opponents of Trump’s trade war in any country, despite not being the country’s chief executive.
He threatened to put 25 percent tariffs on the US in response to Trump’s own program before eventually folding.
Ford also canceled a deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink over the president’s strategy, as Musk was still running the Department of Government Efficiency.
This is a developing story.
