President Trump said Thursday night that he is abruptly ending trade talks with Canada because of a video advertisement, paid for by the province of Ontario, that shows former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
“Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer,” Reagan says in the ad, which uses audio and video from a 1987 radio address by the former president.
Trump blasted the ad, claiming in a social media post that the ad was “fake” and that it was made to interfere with an upcoming Supreme Court decision on the legality of many of the tariffs imposed by the president. “Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” he wrote.
Trump also pointed to a statement by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation that said the ad “misrepresents” the Reagan address and uses “selective” sections. The quotes included come from different sections of Reagan’s speech and are presented in a different order than they were spoken, but they match the original text.
Trump also claimed in a social media post Friday that Reagan “LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY” — a claim that itself misrepresents the former president’s views.
Trump administration officials said the decision reflects frustrations with Canada’s negotiating stance that go beyond just one ad. Those ongoing tensions and Trump’s new announcement leave the state of U.S. relations with Canada, its second largest trading partner, mired in uncertainty. “We stand ready to pick up on those discussions when the Americans are ready,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters before leaving for a summit in Malaysia.
Carney has said that Canada’s old relationship with the United States “is over” and “will never again be the same as it was.” He has emphasized developing trade relationships with new partners and set a goal this week of doubling Canada’s non-U.S. exports over the next decade.
In the meantime, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the ad that offended Trump will soon be taken down. “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.”