Trump Criticizes Ontario's Ad Featuring Ronald Reagan Tariffs—Find Out Why!

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In a surprising turn of events, President Trump has halted trade discussions with Canada, a decision that followed the release of a controversial advertisement by Ontario’s government. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, unveiled the ad last week, featuring a clip of former President Reagan’s critical remarks on tariffs. This advertisement marked the beginning of Ontario’s fresh campaign in the United States, aimed at opposing tariffs—a key focus of Trump’s second term.

The ad quickly sparked debate, as it included edited audio of Reagan’s statements, drawing backlash from a nonprofit organization established in the former president’s honor. Critics argued that the advertisement misrepresented Reagan’s views, leading to a wave of criticism.

Reacting to the situation, President Trump took to the social media platform X, branding the advertisement as “FAKE.” In the same message, he announced the suspension of trade negotiations with Canada, a move that underscores the escalating tensions between the two neighboring countries over trade policies.

Meanwhile, separate from the trade dispute, the White House has indicated that inflation data might not be released next month, adding another layer of uncertainty to the current economic landscape.

“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote in his Thursday Truth Social post terminating trade with Canada.

The advertising campaign and the president’s anger come mere weeks before the Supreme Court is scheduled to review challenges to Trump’s tariffs. It also comes as the Toronto Blue Jays, Canada’s only Major League Baseball team, prepares to host the first game of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Trump’s concerns over the advertisement appear to stem from its use of Reagan’s audio and potential to sway decisions in his tariff cases, which several lower courts previously struck down.

Here’s what to know about Trump’s anger over Ontario’s advertisement campaign, which reportedly cost around $75 million Canadian dollars or $54 million USD.

Spliced remarks from Reagan

The advertisement featured statements that Reagan had actually made but it took them from different parts of a speech he gave about “free and fair trade” in April 1987 when announcing his decision to impose tariffs on Japan.

“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 in the advertisement’s opening lines.

“That over the long run such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer,” Reagan says next in the advertisement. But in his actual speech, Reagan makes this statement before the first lines used in the advertisement.

None of the statements attributed to Reagan in the advertisement are incorrect, as he said all of them in the 1987 speech. But critics have taken issue with the reordering of Reagan’s statements and the removal of the context of him making these statements in a speech justifying his decision to impose tariffs on Japan.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, a nonprofit founded by the former president, posted a statement to the social platform X on Thursday criticizing the advertisement.

“The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek or receive permission to use and edit the remarks,” the nonprofit wrote.

Trump cited the nonprofit’s remarks in his Thursday decision to leave Canadian trade negotiations.

“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 in his Thursday Truth Social post.

Supreme Court review of tariffs

Trump signalled in his Thursday Truth Social post that he believed the Ontario government had released the advertisement to undermine legal decisions surrounding his administration’s use of tariffs, which has come under fire in the U.S.

“They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on Thursday.

In another Truth Social post, Trump said Canada was “trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our Country.”

He defended his imposition of tariffs on foreign countries in further posts following his announcement to terminate Canadian trade negotiations, saying the U.S. was “WEALTHY, POWERFUL, AND NATIONALLY SECURE AGAIN” because of his tariffs and that the stock market was also “STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE BECAUSE OF TARIFFS!”

The Supreme Court will review challenges to Trump’s tariffs on Nov. 5. Trump, who made tariffs on foreign countries a central part of his campaign, has faced growing domestic pressure to reduce or end his use of them.

One study showed that U.S. consumers are shouldering 55 percent of Trump’s tariff costs. A poll found that a majority of Americans feel concerned about tariffs and inflation negating their hard work.

Trump has instated tariffs on a number of countries since entering office, including an initial 25 percent tariff on most Canadian goods.

He raised tariffs on most Canadian goods even further to 35 percent over the summer.

Future negotiations

When announcing the start of the Ontario government’s advertisement campaign last week, Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, indicated a commitment to fighting tariffs.

“Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada,” Ford wrote on X last week when announcing Ontario’s advertisement campaign.

Since Trump’s announcement, Ford has emphasized the importance of the U.S. and Canada’s relationship.

“Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together,” Ford wrote on X this morning. He linked to a YouTube video of Reagan’s complete speech in his post.

“God bless Canada and God bless the United States,” he continued.

It’s unclear whether Ford’s acknowledgement of Reagan’s full speech will assuage Trump and allow trade negotiations between Canada and the United States to resume.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated that he’s ready to resume trade talks with the U.S. “when the Americans are ready.”