Canada PM Mark Carney says he ‘apologised’ to Trump over anti-tariff ad featuring Reagan

“I did apologise to the president,” Carney said, confirming Trump’s comments made on Friday, according to The Guardian.

The Canadian prime minister added that he had reviewed the advertisement with Ford before it aired and had opposed running it.

“I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he said.

What the ad was about

The ad, released on October 16, criticised Trump’s tariffs by citing a speech from former US President Ronald Reagan.

It featured excerpts from a 1987 national radio address in which Reagan said tariffs “hurt every American.”

Trump’s reaction to the ad

The ad invited Trump’s ire. In a post on Truth Social, he announced that he was terminating all trade negotiations with Canada.

Following Trump’s response, Ford assured that the ad would be taken down so that US–Canada trade talks could resume. However, that did not happen. Instead, the ad continued to air across the United States over the weekend, including during the World Series baseball games on Friday and Saturday.

Angered by this, Trump announced an additional 10 per cent tariff on Canadian goods.

After the dinner in South Korea, Trump called the conversation with Carney “very nice,” but did not elaborate further. However, even after the conversation, Trump said the United States and Canada will not restart trade talks.

‘Best ad I ever ran’: Ontario Premier Doug Ford

Unfazed by Trump’s announcements, the Ontario Premier said it was the “best ad I ever ran.”

“You know why President Trump is so upset right now? It was because it was effective,” Ford said.

The ad reportedly shelled out $75 million for the 60-second ad that was aired across primetime World Series programming on Fox, ESPN, and Bloomberg.