 "Canada PM Carney apologises to Donald Trump for Ronald Reagan tariff ad")
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday that he had apologised to US President Donald Trump over a political advertisement that caused a rift between the two leaders and led to Trump suspending trade negotiations and announcing 10 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.
According to the Toronto Sun, Carney said, “I told (Doug) Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad.” He added that both countries were still open to discussions: “We stand ready to negotiate an even better trade deal for both Canada and the US.”
Carney also noted that talks had been making progress before they were halted: “We were making progress before trade talks with the US were suspended.”
At the same time, he stressed that Canada was moving quickly to reduce its reliance on the US to safeguard its own economic interests.
Trump confirms Carney’s apology
According to the report, Trump confirmed that Carney had apologised. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, Trump said, “I like him a lot. But you know what they did was wrong. He (Carney) was very nice. He apologised for what they did with the commercial.”
Reiterating that the ad was false, Trump said, “It was the exact opposite. Ronald Reagan loved tariffs, and they tried to make it look like the other way. He did apologise, and I appreciated it.”
Trump also added that he maintains a "very good relationship" with the Canadian prime minister.
Ford defends the ad
Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who commissioned the advertisement, defended it despite the backlash. According to The Globe and Mail, Ford said Carney had previewed the ad before it was aired. He explained that the ad, shown during the World Series, aimed to promote fair trade and highlight the risks of tariffs, not to provoke the US.
The ad ran over the weekend before being pulled on Monday. Ford claimed it was viewed over a billion times, calling it “the most successful ad in North American history."
What the ad featured?
The one-minute video used clips from a 1987 speech by Republican and former US President Ronald Reagan, where he warned that tariffs “hurt every American” and could trigger “fierce trade wars.”
While the quotes were genuine, they were taken out of sequence. According to the BBC, in his original speech, Reagan had also mentioned imposing limited tariffs on some Japanese imports but reaffirmed his support for free trade overall.
The Ronald Reagan Foundation later said the ad misrepresented Reagan’s message, adding to tensions already running high between the US and Canada over tariff policies.
Trump cancels trade negotiations
Angered by the ad, President Trump had announced the suspension of all trade negotiations with Canada. “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 on his Truth Social account.
“Based on their egregious behaviour, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated,” he added. Trump also confirmed a 10 per cent tariff increase on goods imported from Canada following the controversy.