Late on October 24, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly called off all ongoing trade negotiations with Canada, citing what he described as a "fraudulent" television advertisement produced by Ontario’s government. The ad, which aired widely on American networks, features the late President Ronald Reagan warning about the dangers of tariffs—a message that has now set off a diplomatic firestorm between the two North American neighbors.
Trump’s announcement came via his Truth Social platform in a post that left little room for ambiguity. "The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs," he wrote. "The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court, and other courts. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED." According to Reuters and CBC News, this message was posted late Thursday, with Ottawa receiving only brief advance notice before the world learned of the decision.
The advertisement at the heart of the dispute was commissioned by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government, which spent a total of $75 million on the campaign. The ad used a minute-long excerpt from Reagan’s April 25, 1987, radio address to the nation, in which the former president warned: "When someone says let's impose tariffs on foreign imports, it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. 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 industry shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs." The ad aired on major U.S. networks—including Fox News, Bloomberg, NBC, CBS, and ABC—and was even broadcast during Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, a high-profile slot that ensured maximum visibility.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford was quick to acknowledge the campaign’s provocative message. “I heard that the president heard our ad. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy,” Ford said earlier in the week, according to Reuters. Ford also took to social media, declaring: “Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.”
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute responded swiftly and critically, posting on X (formerly Twitter) that Ontario had not sought or received permission to use or edit Reagan’s remarks from his 1987 address. The foundation stated, “The ad misrepresents the ‘Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade’ dated April 25, 1987.” The foundation further indicated it was “reviewing legal options in this matter” and invited the public to view the unedited version of Reagan’s speech. According to Deutsche Welle, the foundation’s statement stopped short of specifying exactly how Reagan’s remarks were misrepresented, but the implication was clear: the ad had crossed a line.
Ontario officials, for their part, insisted there was nothing improper about the campaign. "The commercial uses an unedited excerpt from one of President Reagan’s public addresses, which is available through public domain," a spokesperson for Ford told CBC News. The spokesperson added, “Reagan knew and spoke directly to Americans that tariffs hurt the U.S. economy, workers and families. He was a strong supporter of free and fair trade between Canada and America.”
The timing of the controversy could hardly be more sensitive. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in November regarding Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad-based tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and dozens of other countries. In his post, Trump accused Canada of attempting to “interfere with the decision of the US Supreme Court,” though he did not provide evidence to support this claim.
Trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada had been ongoing for weeks in Washington, following a high-profile October 7 meeting between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office. As recently as October 22, Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc described the talks as “making progress,” with his press secretary Gabriel Brunet telling CBC News that the minister’s objective was “to build on the progress made until an agreement is reached that is in the best interests of Canadian workers and businesses.”
But the relationship has been under strain for months. Earlier in 2025, Trump imposed significant tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, and autos—measures that Canadian officials say have led to job losses and higher costs for manufacturers north of the border. In response, Canada implemented its own retaliatory tariffs, and Ontario briefly imposed a surcharge on electricity exports to U.S. states. That move prompted Trump to threaten to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum exports, a threat he carried out in June by raising tariffs to 50 percent.
Prime Minister Carney, for his part, has been vocal about the need for Canada to diversify its trade relationships. He recently stated that his government aimed to double exports to countries outside the U.S. due to the threat posed by Trump’s tariffs. Carney also told reporters that Canada would not allow unfair U.S. access to its markets if talks with Washington failed. According to Reuters, more than three-quarters of Canadian exports still go to the U.S., with approximately 3.6 billion Canadian dollars ($2.7 billion) worth of goods and services crossing the border daily.
The Reagan ad campaign is just the latest in a series of high-stakes maneuvers by Ontario’s government. Ford’s earlier attempt to impose a surcharge on electricity exports backfired, prompting Trump’s tariff threats and a rapid policy reversal. But with anti-tariff sentiment running high in Canada, Ford’s latest gambit appears to have struck a nerve in Washington.
Historically, Ronald Reagan supported free trade but recognized that tariffs could sometimes provide short-term protection for American jobs. In the very speech cited by Ontario, Reagan warned that “such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer,” and that “high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars.” Reagan’s administration itself imposed temporary tariffs on Japanese electronics and other industrial goods, drawing criticism from free market advocates who saw the measures as protectionist. Yet Reagan’s vision of a “North American accord” ultimately laid the groundwork for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), cementing his legacy as an architect of open trade between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
As of Friday morning, the Canadian Prime Minister’s office had not responded to Trump’s announcement. The U.S. and Canada remain deeply intertwined economically, but for now, the fate of their trade relationship hangs in the balance—caught between political brinkmanship, legal wrangling, and the enduring power of presidential words, even decades after they were first spoken.
For both sides, the path forward is uncertain, but the stakes—billions in cross-border trade and the livelihoods of millions—could hardly be higher.
