Donald Trump has officially announced an immediate end to “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a television advertisement that had the nerve to criticize U.S. tariffs by using a quote from former U.S. president Ronald Reagan. The news broke after Trump posted his reaction on Truth Social, effectively slamming the brakes on talks with our northern neighbor over what he called “egregious behavior,” per The Guardian.
This whole drama centers around an ad paid for by the government of Ontario, Canada, which is one of the provinces that’s been particularly badly hit by the escalating trade war. The core of the ad uses excerpts from a 1987 Reagan speech where the former president says that “trade barriers hurt every American worker.” Now, you’d think quoting a well-known Republican president would be a clever way to make a point to a U.S. audience.
