It is perhaps unsurprising that President Trump, a businessman who rode the American economic boom of the 1980s, is so enamoured with Ronald Reagan.
Trump has often turned to the former president for political inspiration. He adopted Reagan’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan — and put it on baseball caps. He borrowed the schmaltzy 1980s anthem God Bless the USA, once played at Reagan rallies, and used it as the soundtrack for his own speeches.
“A giant of American history,” Trump said while reflecting on his predecessor earlier this year. “A lion of freedom.”
So Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, could hardly have chosen a more hurtful figure to cite when attacking Trump’s protectionist trade agenda than Reagan, the man regarded by the president as his political hero.
Now Canada’s hopes of repairing its relations with the US have suffered a significant setback as a result of the perceived criticism of Reagan’s legacy.
On Thursday night, Trump terminated all trade talks with Canada after accusing Ford of “fraudulently” using a speech by Reagan in an a one-minute advert unveiled last week attacking his administration’s tariffs policy.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario
CARLOS OSORIO/REUTERS
In a post on Truth Social, Trump railed against the advert, which features a voiceover of Reagan saying that tariffs “hurt every American”.
“TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE USA.,” he wrote. “Based on their egregious behaviour, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Reacting to the announcement, Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, appeared reluctant to be dragged into a war of words but acknowledged he was “disappointed” in Trump’s decision.
“My colleagues have been working with their American colleagues on detailed constructive negotiations, discussions on specific sectors — steel, aluminium and energy,” he said. “We stand ready to pick up on that progress.”
The two leaders will attend a summit of Asian and Pacific economies next week in South Korea.
Carney and Trump met at the White House on October 7
JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has been particularly hard-hit by the US tariffs and Ford has been very vocal in his opposition to the taxes.
In March, he threatened to cut off power supply to three US states: Michigan, New York, and Minnesota, in retaliation for the Trump tariffs.
“We’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada,” said Ford.
The video, part of a C$75 million (£40 million) campaign on US television channels, criticised the Trump administration’s decision to impose a 35 per cent tax on many Canadian imports and to hit industries like steel manufacturing with specific duties.
To make its case, the advert features an excerpt from a 1987 national radio address by Reagan in which the Republican president regretfully explains his decision to impose tariffs on Japanese goods while saying he is in favour of free trade.
“When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes, for a short while it works, but only for a short time,” Reagan says. “But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer.
He adds: “High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars … Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.”
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said the advert “misrepresents the presidential radio address”. It also accused the Ontario government of not seeking permission to use and edit the remarks and added it was “reviewing its legal options”.
“The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, accompanied by an image of the statement.
The quotes in the advert were taken selectively from parts of the former presidents’ address, but there was no indication that they had been altered.
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In a follow-up post on Friday, Trump wrote: “CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY.”
Trump alleged that Canada was trying to influence next month’s Supreme Court ruling on the matter. The court is due to hear oral arguments on November 5 on whether the president can unilaterally impose tariffs under emergency powers, bypassing Congress.
“Canada is trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our Country,” wrote Trump. “Thank you to the Ronald Reagan Foundation for exposing this FRAUD. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
Ford later announced that he would withdraw the advert next week.
He said he had decided to pause the commercial from Monday after speaking with Carney. However, it would still air during the World Series baseball games between the LA Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday and Sunday.
“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 wrote on X.
“We’ve achieved our goal, having reached US audiences at the highest levels. I’ve directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games.
“In speaking with Prime Minister Carney, Ontario will pause its US advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume.”