U.S. President Donald Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House on May 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Thursday night that he was terminating all U.S. trade negotiations with Canada because the Ontario provincial government aired an advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.
Trump made the announcement in a Truth Social post, hours after The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute said that the ad by Ontario’s government misrepresents a presidential radio address that Reagan delivered in April 1987, and that his remarks were edited without permission.
The foundation did not say what was misleading, but encouraged people to listen to an unedited video of his address on its YouTube channel.
“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. “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,” Trump wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Oct. 14 said the province would spend $75 million on ads to run in the United States featuring Reagan criticizing tariffs.
“And we’re going to repeat that message to every Republican district there is right across the entire country,” Ford said.
Trump has made tariffs a centerpiece of his second term in the White House.
The Supreme Court in November is set to hear arguments in a case that will determine whether Trump had the power to impose many of his wide-ranging tariffs.
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