President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that he will call off trade negotiations with Canada over the airing of a Canadian TV advertisement opposing U.S. tariffs featuring former President Ronald Reagan.
Trump accused Canada of “fraudulently” using audio from a 1987 address by Reagan, in which he criticized tariffs and warned about their effects on the American economy. Trump called the ad “fake” in a post to Truth Social late Thursday evening.
“Based on their egregious behavior, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated,” the president wrote.
In the ad, Reagan explains his decision to the American people to impose limited tariffs against certain Japanese tech products, one that he said he was “loathe to take.”
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse. Businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs,” Reagan says in the ad.
The Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute said it was “reviewing legal options” in the wake of the ad, alleging it contained “selective audio.”
“The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks,” the foundation said in a statement.
Conservative Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the ad would be aired in “every Republican district” across the United States.
“Let’s take Ronald Reagan’s words and let’s blast it to the American people,” Ford said during a speech earlier in the month.
Following his cancelling of trade talks, Trump made a series of posts on Truth Social, accusing Canada of trying to “illegally influence” the upcoming Supreme Court case on the legality of Trump’s tariffs, and defending his own trade policies.
“The United States is wealthy, powerful, and nationally secure again, all because of tariffs,” the president wrote in one post.
Responding to Trump’s criticism, Ford called the two countries “friends, neighbours and allies” in a post to X.
“President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together,” Ford wrote.
Watch the ad below:
