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US President Donald Trump has accused Canada of “playing dirty” amid a deepening diplomatic dispute over an advertisement featuring former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, despite Ontario’s decision to withdraw the ad early next week.
The controversy began after Trump claimed the anti-tariff advert misrepresented Reagan’s stance on trade, prompting him to suspend all negotiations with Canada.
Ontario later announced that the ad would be pulled on Monday in a bid to restart stalled trade discussions.
However, Trump criticised the province for allowing the commercial to continue airing during the opening games of the World Series, where the Toronto Blue Jays are facing the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 11-4 in Friday’s first game.
“Canada got caught cheating on a commercial — can you believe it?” Trump told reporters before departing for a trip to Asia.
“I heard they were pulling the ad, but they could have pulled it tonight. That’s dirty play. But I can play dirtier than they can.”
The advertisement, released by the Ontario government, used excerpts from a 1987 Reagan radio address warning against the dangers of high tariffs, stating that such measures could trigger retaliatory trade wars. The quote cited matches an official transcript from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
However, the Reagan Foundation accused Ontario of using “selective audio and video” and said it was exploring possible legal action.
Trump branded the campaign a “crooked ad”, insisting that “Ronald Reagan loved tariffs”.
Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford announced the suspension of the adverts after speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying, “Ontario will pause its US advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume.”
Trump, who said he has no plans to meet Carney during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea, maintained his hard line.
The diplomatic tension comes just two weeks after Carney visited Washington to request relief from US tariffs that have strained Canada’s economy.
Carney attempted to ease tensions on Friday, stating that Canada remains ready to make “progress” in talks when the Americans are ready. He added, “We have to focus on what we can control and realise what we cannot.”
Trump’s sweeping sectoral tariffs, particularly on steel, aluminium, and automobiles, have hit Canada’s industries hard, resulting in layoffs and business pressures.
Although both nations remain tied to the USMCA trade agreement, which allows about 85 per cent of bilateral trade to remain tariff-free, Carney warned that the US had raised tariffs “to levels last seen during the Great Depression”.
“Our economic strategy needs to change dramatically,” he said. “That process will take some sacrifices and some time.”
