In a matter of days, a seemingly routine Canadian television advertisement ignited a diplomatic firestorm and trade standoff between the United States and Canada, unraveling decades of economic cooperation and exposing deep ideological rifts on both sides of the border. The controversy centers on a minute-long ad, aired by Ontario’s provincial government, that featured the late President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 warning about the dangers of tariffs—words that, in their original context, championed free trade and cautioned against protectionism.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled the campaign on October 16, 2025, announcing on X (formerly Twitter), “It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the US has launched. 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 ad was strategically timed to run during the first two games of the World Series, pitting the Toronto Blue Jays against the Los Angeles Dodgers, ensuring maximum visibility across North America.
The ad’s content was hardly subtle. It replayed Reagan’s admonition that tariffs “hurt every American worker and consumer” and “inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries.” The message was clear: protectionist policies were bad for both nations, and Ontario was urging Americans to reconsider the Trump administration’s escalating trade barriers.
But what began as an economic plea quickly turned into a political conflagration. On October 23, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, accusing Canada of faking Reagan’s quotes and “fraudulently” editing the former president’s 1987 radio address. “The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs,” Trump wrote. “ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Trump’s anger was echoed by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which issued a statement condemning Ontario’s use of Reagan’s remarks without permission. “The Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks,” the Foundation said, adding that it was reviewing legal options. The controversy only intensified when the ad continued to air during the World Series, even after Trump’s initial outburst.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, seeking to calm the waters, announced on October 23 that the campaign would pause starting Monday, October 27, after discussions with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “Our intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses,” Ford wrote on X. “In speaking with Prime Minister Carney, Ontario will pause its US advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume.” Ford also reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral relationship, urging both countries to “build Fortress Am-Can.”
However, the effort at de-escalation was short-lived. On October 25, Trump reignited the dispute, accusing Canada of deliberately airing the “fraudulent” ad during the World Series and announcing an additional 10% tariff on all Canadian imports. “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” Trump posted on Truth Social. He further alleged that the ad campaign was designed to sway the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court hearing on his authority to impose tariffs, scheduled for November 5, 2025.
At this point, tariffs on Canadian goods had already reached 35% since August 1, 2025. Trump’s administration had also threatened 100% tariffs on Canadian-branded pharmaceuticals unless manufacturers shifted production to the U.S., though reports suggested these threats might be used as leverage in negotiations with drug companies rather than as a definitive policy shift.
The legal backdrop to this standoff is equally complex. An August 2025 court ruling had declared many of Trump’s tariffs “null and void,” prompting appeals and a looming Supreme Court showdown. Trump has justified his sweeping tariff powers under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), a 1977 law granting the president broad authority to regulate international commerce during declared national emergencies. The upcoming hearing will scrutinize whether Trump’s use of IEEPA to impose tariffs on partners like Canada and Mexico—ostensibly to combat illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking—was legally sound.
As the World Series played out on October 24 and 25, with the Blue Jays and Dodgers splitting the first two games, the ad controversy remained front and center. The Blue Jays dominated game one 11-4, while the Dodgers took game two 5-1, but for many viewers, the bigger drama was unfolding off the field.
On October 26, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation, doubling down on the administration’s hardline stance. “This is a kind of propaganda against US citizens,” Bessent declared. “It’s psy-ops.” He went further on CBS, calling the ad “interference in US sovereign matters” and warning that it had “clearly damaged” relations between Washington and Ottawa.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking at an economic forum in Malaysia, distanced the federal government from Ontario’s actions, insisting that negotiations with the U.S. were “the sole responsibility of the government of Canada.” Neither Carney’s office nor Ontario’s responded to requests for comment from major news outlets.
The trade spat has reignited debates about the Republican Party’s shift away from the free-trade orthodoxy championed by Reagan. Historians told Business Insider that Trump’s protectionism marks a sharp break from the party’s post-World War II tradition. Russell Riley, co-chair of the University of Virginia’s Presidential Oral History Program, noted that Reagan was a “vigorous advocate of free trade,” while David Greenberg of Rutgers University described Trump’s approach as a “repudiation” of the conservatism that characterized the GOP from Nixon through Bush, Jr. William Howell of Johns Hopkins University observed that Reagan’s embrace of immigration, free trade, and optimism would make him “an outcast in his own party” in 2025.
As the ad is set to be pulled and both governments prepare for the Supreme Court hearing, the episode has left many wondering whether the wounds to the U.S.-Canada relationship can be quickly healed. The dispute has not only complicated trade negotiations but also exposed the deep partisan and ideological divides shaping North American economic policy in the mid-2020s.
In the end, what started as a plea for free trade became a flashpoint in a much larger battle over the future of economic relations, presidential power, and the legacy of one of America’s most iconic leaders.
