The post said he \u201ckicked off\u201d the D.C. trip speaking to Wiseman about \u201chow we can work together to make the case for a tariff-free trade in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781005512_711_DZN7NUJMQVBUPLTHZQJ3XEZDBY.jpeg\")
Doug Ford Washington trip Ontario Premier Doug Ford (right) poses for a photo with Canada’s U.S. Ambassador Mark Wiseman (centre) and Ontario Trade Minister Vic Fedeli on top of the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2026. (Doug Ford X account) <\/p>\n
Ahead of Ford\u2019s trip, his office shared a statement about its focus, geared around fighting for Ontario, pressing a case against tariffs, and championing what Ford has termed \u201cFortress North America.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson described that as a \u201cbold vision for how Canada, the U.S. and Mexico can work together to lower costs, create a jobs boom, and protect our shared security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ontario\u2019s representative in Washington, David Paterson, says the phrase has grown some roots south of the border over time.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s fascinating to hear members of the (U.S.) president\u2019s cabinet saying, \u2018let\u2019s do Fortress North America,\u2019\u201d Paterson told CTV News last week, speaking about trip preparations. <\/p>\n
Paterson said Ford\u2019s meetings in Washington are with auto sector leads, the farm community and agricultural representatives, a range of businesses and \u201cseveral very high-ranking members of U.S. Congress,\u201d describing the itinerary as \u201cpacked.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/UEHUOI2OZ37ODCBZJQ4CLIV7VM.jpg\")
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a press conference in Toronto, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Chris Young Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a press conference in Toronto, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Chris Young <\/p>\n
He called the premier \u201can enormous asset,\u201d due to his business experience working in the United States and his conservative stripes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a conservative politician that doesn\u2019t like taxes and believes that growth comes from helping our businesses grow, and that\u2019s very common to what the Republican Party is interested in here too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paterson says among \u201cpeople that talk to the President every day, we have a lot of commonality.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Ford\u2019s history in the U.S.-Canada trade war has been fraught. U.S. President Donald Trump called off trade talks after Ford ran a now infamous ad<\/a> featuring Ronald Reagan. Just last week, he referenced Trump as being \u201cback on his high horse<\/a>\u201d talking about Canada as the 51st state.<\/p>\n Monday afternoon, the premier posted photos<\/a> of a roundtable discussion with the industry group Autos Drive America. He also had a meeting<\/a> with the American Farm Bureau Federation and sat down<\/a> with the American Automotive Policy Council. Ford\u2019s office declined to provide further details about who attended, or other events of the day. <\/p>\n On Monday night, the premier will co-host a reception with American billionaire and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ross Perot Jr. <\/p>\n An industry source tells CTV News it\u2019s largely being attended by American businesses with an interest in Canada, and discussions with Ford are more broadly about Canadian bilateral issues, rather than Ontario-specific.<\/p>\n CTV News asked LeBlanc\u2019s office if there was anything to share in reaction to the premier\u2019s trip but did not get a response.<\/p>\n With files from CTV News\u2019 Queen\u2019s Park Bureau Chief Siobhan Morris <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ontario Premier Ford is meeting with auto sector and agriculture representatives and members of Congress during his two-day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-725058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-apple-news","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/DMPAANDTNBBXFPXH2X2XHFEBFQ.jpeg\")
Doug Ford U.S. trip Ontario Premier Doug Ford posted photos of a roundtable discussion with the industry group Autos Drive America on June 8, 2026. (Doug Ford Facebook) <\/p>\n