US President Donald Trump attacked Canada for being “dirty” on Friday, as the controversy over an advertisement starring former President Ronald Reagan that forced Trump to cancel trade talks showed no signs of abating.
After Trump claimed that the anti-tariff commercial misrepresented the opinions of fellow Republican Reagan, the Canadian province of Ontario announced on Monday that it would remove the offending ad so that discussions could resume.
However, Trump showed no signs of backing down, claiming that Ontario should not have allowed it to air during the first two games of baseball’s World Series this weekend.
The World Series will pit a Canadian team, the Toronto Blue Jays, against a US team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Blue Jays defeated the Dodgers 11-4 in the first game on Friday.
“Canada got caught cheating on a commercial, can you believe it?” Trump told reporters before heading on a trip to Asia.
“And I heard they were pulling the ad—I didn’t know they were putting it on a little bit more. They could have pulled it tonight,” Trump added.
After a reporter stated that the ad will be removed on Monday, Trump responded, “That’s dirty play. But I can play dirtier than they do.”
On Thursday, Trump stated on his Truth Social network that he had “terminated” all negotiations with Canada over what he described as a “fake” advertising campaign.
Less than 24 hours later, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the suspension of the advertisements after speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about the escalating dispute with Washington.
“In speaking with Prime Minister Carney, Ontario will pause its US advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume,” Ford said in a post on X.
The Canadian ad featured excerpts from Reagan’s 1987 radio address on trade, in which he warned about the consequences of high taxes on foreign imports for the US economy.
It quoted Reagan as saying that “high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars,” which fits a transcript of his speech available on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library’s website.
On Thursday, the Ronald Reagan Foundation posted on X that the Ontario government had utilized “selective audio and video” and was considering its legal options.
Trump called it a “crooked ad” on Friday night, adding that “they know Ronald Reagan loved tariffs.”
Trump and Carney are scheduled to attend a dinner on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in South Korea on Wednesday.
However, Trump claimed he had no intentions to meet with Carney.
The latest change in US-Canada ties happened just over two weeks after Carney visited Trump at the White House to request a reduction in harsh US tariffs.
On Friday, Carney attempted to calm the issue by stating that his country was ready to resume “progress” on trade discussions “when the Americans are ready.”
As he traveled to Asia, he stated that Canada must “focus on what we can control while acknowledging what we cannot control.”
Trump’s worldwide sectoral tariffs, mainly on steel, aluminum, and automobiles, have impacted Canada hard, causing job losses and squeezing businesses.
For the time being, the United States and Canada are bound by an existing North American trade agreement known as the USMCA, which ensures that approximately 85 percent of cross-border trade in both directions is tariff-free.
However, in a speech on Wednesday, Carney stated that the US has increased “its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression.”
“Our economic strategy needs to change dramatically,” Carney stated, adding that the transition “will take some sacrifices and some time.”
