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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused Canada of “election interference” after airing a controversial anti-tariff advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Roughly two weeks ago, 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: While making his rounds on multiple Sunday news programs, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent doubled down on the Trump administration’s outrage over the ad, calling it “unacceptable” and comparing it to foreign election meddling. “The premier of Ontario spent $75 million sending propaganda across the US border,” Bessent said on CNN’s State of the Union. “It’s the equivalent of election interference. Nobody likes foreign election interference. Nobody likes foreign governments trying to sway public opinion for their own good.” In a separate appearance on Fox News Sunday, he warned that “a price has got to be paid for the ad.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he personally apologized to President Trump during a dinner at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, reportedly telling him that while Ontario Premier Doug Ford acted independently, the move was “not exactly useful.” Carney claimed he had advised Ford against running the ad in the first place.
This comes as the economic damage in Canada, particularly in its industrial sectors, continues to deepen since the tariff hikes. Canada’s steel and aluminum producers are facing levies as high as 50%, while auto and lumber industries are being hit with tariffs ranging from 25% to over 45%.
