Ontario will stop running ads featuring U.S. President Ronald Reagan saying trade tariffs are a bad idea.
Published October 25, 2025
The Canadian province of Ontario has announced it will remove an anti-tariff ad featuring the voice of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, which prompted current U.S. leader Donald Trump to cancel all trade talks with Canada.
President Trump announced Thursday on his Truth social network that he has “terminated” all negotiations with Canada over a “false” ad campaign that he says misrepresented President Reagan, a fellow Republican.
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Less than 24 hours later, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced he was suspending advertising after speaking with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney about the spiraling dispute with Washington.
“After speaking with Premier Carney, Ontario will pause its U.S. advertising campaign starting Monday so we can resume trade talks,” Ford said in a post on X.
But Ford added that he has told his team to keep the ads running during this weekend’s two games in the Baseball World Series, when Canada’s Toronto Blue Jays play the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The ad quotes from President Reagan’s 1987 radio address on trade, in which he warned that high tariffs on foreign imports could affect the U.S. economy.
In the ad, President Reagan can be heard saying, “High tariffs always lead to foreign retaliation and a fierce trade war,” a quote that matches a transcript of the speech on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library website.
Our intent has always been to start a conversation about the kind of economy Americans want to build and the impact tariffs will have on workers and businesses. We reached the highest tier of audiences in the United States and achieved our goals. I have instructed my team to continue working hard.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 24, 2025
The Ronald Reagan Foundation wrote to X on Thursday that the Ontario government is using “selective audio and video” and is considering legal options.
Al Jazeera’s analysis of the language used in the ad, which stitched together various parts of President Reagan’s 1987 speech, also appeared to be true to President Reagan’s message that if tariffs were to be wielded as an economic weapon, they should be used sparingly and only for short periods of time, or they could harm Americans.
President Trump did not immediately respond to the Ontario premier’s decision to pull the ad.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told reporters that Trump has made his “extreme displeasure” clear and is expected to respond to news of the impending ad removal at a later date.
A senior U.S. official said President Trump will likely meet Carney at a dinner on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea on Wednesday.
“They will probably meet,” the official told AFP news agency.
“We will never stop advocating for U.S. tariffs on Canada with every tool we have,” Ontario-based Ford said in its original social media post announcing the launch of an ad campaign featuring President Reagan’s voice.
It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign has launched in the United States.
We will never stop advocating for U.S. tariffs on Canada, using every means possible. The path to prosperity is through collaboration.
Check out our new ad. pic.twitter.com/SgIVC1cqMJ
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 16, 2025
