Ontario premier says he'll pull ad that upset Trump so trade talks
between Canada and US can resume
[October 25, 2025] By
ROB GILLIES
TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada’s most populous province said Friday
he’ll pull the anti-tariff ad that prompted U.S. President Donald Trump
to end trade talks with Canada.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said after talking with Prime Minister Mark
Carney he’s decided to pause the advertising campaign effective Monday
so that trade talks can resume.
Trump announced he’s ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because
of a television ad sponsored by Ontario that used the words of former
President Ronald Reagan to criticize U.S. tariffs.
“We’ve achieved our goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest
levels," Ford said in a statement.
“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 the commercials will continue to run this weekend including
during the first World Series games between the Toronto Blue Jays and
Los Angeles Dodgers.
“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,” he said.
Indeed, the ad aired Friday night during the seventh inning of Fox's
national broadcast of Game 1. The Blue Jays were leading 11-4.
On Thursday Trump posted, “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 doubled down on his criticism of the Ontario ads Friday and
accused Canada of trying to influence an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court
ruling on his global tariff regime.
Trump’s call for an abrupt end to negotiations has further inflamed
trade tensions between the neighbors and longtime allies.
Carney said this week he aims to double his country’s exports to
countries outside the U.S. because of the threat posed by Trump’s
tariffs. Canadian officials remain ready to continue talks to reduce
tariffs in certain sectors, he said.
“We can’t control the trade policy of the United States. We recognize
that that policy has fundamentally changed from the 1980s,” Carney said
Friday morning before boarding a flight to Asia. “We have to focus on
what we can control and realize what we can’t control.”
Carney is trying to secure a trade deal with Trump, but tariffs are
taking a toll in the aluminum, steel, auto and lumber sectors.
Carney spoke to Ford Thursday night and again Friday.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said talks with Canada have not led to
any constructive progress.
“Ontario’s taxpayer-funded ad campaign on American TV networks — that
misleadingly edited President Reagan’s 1987 radio address about trade —
is the latest example of how Canadian officials would rather play games
than engage with the Administration," Desai said in a statement.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks to reporters following the First
Ministers Meeting at the National War Museum March 21, 2025, in
Ottawa, Canada. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
 “As President Trump made clear on
Truth Social, further talks are a futile effort if Canada can’t be
serious.”
The Ontario government has said it would pay about $75 million
Canadian (US$54 million) for the ads to air across multiple American
television stations using audio and video of Reagan speaking about
tariffs in 1987.
Ford said earlier this week he had heard that Trump had seen the ad.
“I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said.
He said the aim is to “blast” the pro-trade message to Americans.
“It’s real, because it was coming from the best president the
country’s ever seen, Ronald Reagan," Ford said. “I feel the Reagan
Republicans are going to be fighting with the MAGA group, and let's
hope, Reagan Republicans win.”
Ford is a populist conservative who doesn’t belong to the same party
as Carney, a Liberal.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and British Columbia Premier David Eby
backed Ford.
“It’s clear that these ads are working. If you throw a rock at a
lake and you don’t hear a splash, you probably missed. So to my good
friend Doug Ford, keep the ads on TV. They’re effective, and this
country is behind you,” Kinew said.
Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in
Montreal, said the ad has backfired “big time.”
Trump has been threatening Canada’s economy and sovereignty with
tariffs, most offensively by claiming Canada could be “the 51st
state.”
Jason Kenney, a former Conservative cabinet minister under ex-Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, called Trump’s posts “just embarrassing."
“The Ontario ad does not misrepresent President Reagan’s anti-tariff
radio address in any respect whatsoever. It is a direct replay of
his radio address, formatted for a one minute ad,” Kenney posted on
social media.
Kenney also took aim at the Reagan Foundation, saying it “now has
gormless leadership which is easily intimidated by a call from the
White House, yet another sign of the hugely corrosive influence of
Trump on the American conservative movement.”
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