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President Donald Trump has confirmed that the United States will not restart trade negotiations with Canada following a controversial advertisement played during the World Series last weekend.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Last weekend, Canada’s Ontario government aired a controversial commercial in US markets that used edited clips from a 1987 speech by former President Ronald Reagan to criticize President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. The minute-long ad portrayed Reagan warning that tariffs lead to trade wars, factory closures, and job losses. The Reagan Presidential Foundation condemned the ad, accusing Canada of misrepresenting Reagan’s words and using his image without permission to score political points. Trump also denounced the ad as “fake” and “false,” claiming it was a deliberate attempt to manipulate American opinion, and in retaliation, he abruptly halted all US-Canada trade negotiations while announcing an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian goods.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, President Trump confirmed he has no intentions of resuming trade talks with Canada, stating bluntly that the Reagan-themed ad “crossed a line” and reflected what he called “egregious behavior.” Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said that while he maintains a “very good relationship” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the commercial was “a very false commercial” and “deeply disrespectful,” and noted that it undermined the progress that had been made in relations.
Carney, attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea, confirmed that he had privately apologized to Trump during a leaders’ dinner, telling reporters, “The President was offended. I did apologize.” Carney also clarified that the ad had been produced by the Ontario provincial government, not his government, and that he had explicitly told Premier Doug Ford he opposed airing it.
Canadian officials, meanwhile, pushed back against Trump’s claim that trade talks were already faltering before the ad aired. According to Ambassador Kirsten Hillman, Canadian and US negotiators had been exchanging term sheets and were close to agreement on key sectors like steel, aluminum, and energy. Hillman testified before a Senate committee that “significant progress” had been made and described the talks as the most productive in recent months.
