Canadians pull Reagan advertisement after furious Trump halts trade talks

The province of Ontario, which is currently US president Donald Trump, ordered to end all trade talks with Canada, announced it would pull an anti-tariff advertisement featuring former US President Ronald Reagan’s voice.

Trump made the announcement on Thursday on his Truth Social Network that he had “terminated” all negotiations with Canada over a “fake” advertising campaign that he claimed misrepresented Republican President Reagan.

After speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about the escalating conflict with Washington, Ontario’s premier Doug Ford announced that he was suspending the advertisement less than 24 hours later.

Ontario will suspend its US advertising campaign effective Monday in order to resume trade talks, according to Ford in a post on X.

Ford added that he had informed his team to continue broadcasting the advertisement during the two baseball World Series games this weekend, when the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Canada.

Reagan issued a radio address on trade in 1987 that the advertisement used to highlight the effects of his warning about the impact of high tariffs on foreign imports.

Reagan is reportedly quoted as saying in the advertisement that “high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the launching of fierce trade wars,” which matches a transcript of his speech on the website of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

We always wanted to start a conversation about the kind of economy Americans want to create and the effects of tariffs on both employees and businesses. We’ve reached our goal by reaching American audiences with the best possible results. I’ve instructed my team to keep putting our…

The Ontario government’s use of “selective audio and video” and its legal options were being reviewed, according to the Ronald Reagan Foundation’s report on X on Thursday.

The advertisement, which spliced together various passages from Reagan’s 1987 speech together, also appeared sincere in the eyes of Al Jazeera’s analysis: that tariffs must only be used sparingly and briefly, or they could cause harm to Americans.

The Ontario premier’s decision to pull the advertisement was not immediately addressed by President Trump.

Trump’s “extreme displeasure” was made known by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who said he would respond to the announcement’s impending removal.

A senior US official predicted that Trump and Carney would likely meet at dinner on Wednesday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.

The official told the AFP news agency that “they will likely see each other.”

Ontario’s Ford declares, “We will never stop making our case against American tariffs on Canada,” in his original social media post announcing the launch of the advertising campaign featuring Reagan’s voice.

Official news: Ontario’s new U.S. advertising campaign has begun. &nbsp,

We’ll never stop bringing up tariffs on Canada using every tool we have. Working together is the key to prosperity.

Watch our brand-new advertisement. pic. https://twitter.com/SgIVC1cqMJ