Donald Trump pledged Saturday to increase tariffs on Canadian goods by another 10% in response to what he described as “a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs” that was paid for by the government of Ontario and suggested the late president was against the policy.
“Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Reagan Foundation said that they, ‘created an ad campaign using selective audio and video of President Ronald Reagan. The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address,’ and ‘did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is reviewing its legal options in this matter.’”
The ad in question was paid for by the government of Ontario and has aired on major television networks throughout the United States. Ontario Premier Doug Ford agreed to pull the ad after Trump essentially pitched a fit and called the ad “fake” in a TruthSocial post Thursday and accused the country of “fraudulently” taking “a big ad buy.”
The update comes days after Trump said he would end trade relations with Canada.
“The sole purpose of this FRAUD was Canada’s hope that the United States Supreme Court will come to their ‘rescue’ on Tariffs that they have used for years to hurt the United States,” Trump wrote.
Ford defended the ad on Friday.
“Our intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses,” Ford wrote in a post to X. “We’ve achieved our goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels. I’ve directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games.”
