Late Friday, President Donald Trump criticized the government of Ontario in Canada for not stopping a television advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs until after the initial two games of the World Series.
“They could have removed it tonight,” Trump stated to journalists at the White House as he prepared to depart for Asia.
“Well, that’s underhanded,” he remarked. “But I can outplay them in that regard, you know.”
Trump mentioned the advertisement in his decision on Thursday night regarding trade discussions with Canada.
On Friday afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that he would halt the ad on Monday to allow for trade negotiations to continue.
However, Ford also indicated, “I’ve instructed my team to continue to share our message with Americans over the weekend so we can air our advertisement during the first two games of the World Series.”
Trump asserted on Friday night that he had been informed that Ontario was discontinuing the ad.
But he also mentioned he was unaware the government planned to keep it running until Monday.
The advertisement aired Friday night during a broadcast seen by millions of Americans of the opening game of the World Series.
The game concluded with an 11-4 victory for Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays against the U.S.’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
Toronto, located in Ontario, is Ford’s home city.
In a tweet earlier on Friday, Ford announced the ad’s suspension, stating, “Our goal has always been to spark a dialogue about the type of economy Americans wish to build and the influence of tariffs on workers and businesses.”
“We’ve fulfilled our objective, reaching U.S. audiences at top levels,” Ford added, seemingly referencing Trump.
“After discussing with Prime Minister [Mark] Carney, Ontario will pause its U.S. advertising campaign starting Monday to resume trade negotiations,” he stated.
Trump suspended trade negotiations with Canada following assertions from The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that the advertisement distorted Reagan’s radio address from April 25, 1987, and that his remarks were edited without authorization.
The foundation uploaded a video of the speech to its website, urging viewers to watch the full version.
Ford addressed that criticism earlier on Friday by tweeting a link to the same video.
In it, Reagan talks about his recent imposition of new tariffs “on certain Japanese products due to Japan’s failure to uphold their trade agreement with us regarding electronic devices known as semiconductors.”
This context is omitted from Ontario’s advertisement. However, the advertisement accurately reflects Reagan stating, “Over the long term, such trade barriers harm every American worker and consumer.”
The ad further features Reagan, from the same address, stating, “When someone advocates, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it might seem like they are acting patriotically to protect American products and jobs. And at times, for a brief period, it appears effective — but only temporarily.”
“High tariffs inevitably provoke retaliation from foreign nations and can trigger severe trade conflicts,” Reagan warned in the speech and echoed in the advertisement.
Ford, declaring himself a “big fan of Ronald Reagan,” initially shared the advertisement on X on October 16, shortly after announcing that Ontario’s government would allocate $75 million for the ad’s airing in the U.S.
“We intend to convey that message to every Republican district nationwide,” Ford stated.
Trump expressed outrage over the advertisement in a Truth Social post on Friday morning.
“CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They misleadingly ran a major ad asserting that Ronald Reagan opposed Tariffs, while he ACTUALLY SUPPORTED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY,” Trump wrote.
“Canada is attempting to improperly sway the United States Supreme Court regarding one of the most pivotal decisions in our nation’s history. Canada has long deceived on Tariffs, imposing charges on our farmers of up to 400%. Now they, along with other nations, can no longer exploit the U.S. Thank you to the Ronald Reagan Foundation for exposing this FRAUD.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to conduct oral hearings in early November concerning a case that will determine whether Trump had the legal authority to implement extensive tariffs against numerous nations, including Canada, without Congressional consent.
