Trump Calls Off Trade Talks With Canada Over Reagan Ad

President Trump said late Thursday that he was ending "all trade negotiations" with Canada because of a television ad opposing US tariffs that he said misstated the facts and called "egregious behavior" aimed at influencing US court decisions, the AP reports. The post on Trump's social media site came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he aims to double his country's exports to countries outside the US because of the threat posed by Trump's tariffs. Trump's call for an abrupt end to negotiations could further inflame trade tensions that already have been building between the two neighboring countries for months. The ad, which you can watch here, features audio from then-President Ronald Reagan's 1987 address to the US regarding free and fair trade, Politico reports.

"The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts," Trump wrote. "TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED." Carney's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The prime minister was set to leave Friday morning for a summit in Asia, while Trump is set to do the same Friday evening.

Earlier Thursday night, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute posted on X that an ad created by the government of Ontario "misrepresents the 'Presidential Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade' dated April 25, 1987." It added that Ontario did not receive foundation permission "to use and edit the remarks." The foundation said it is "reviewing legal options in this matter" and invited the public to watch the unedited video of Reagan's address. A spokesperson for Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, tells the CBC there was no wrongdoing involved: "The commercial uses an unedited excerpt from one of President Reagan's public addresses, which is available through public domain."