Canada’s Leaders Double Down After Trump Blows Up Trade Talks

President Trump pulling out of trade talks with Canada has inspired its leaders to continue to rally around the flag rather than capitulate.

“CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!! They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY,” Trump wrote Friday morning on Truth Social, after announcing a suspension in talks the night before. “Canada has long cheated on Tariffs, charging our farmers as much as 400%. Now they, and other countries, can’t take advantage of the U.S. any longer. Thank you to the Ronald Reagan Foundation for exposing this FRAUD. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

Trump’s rampage was sparked by an ad paid for by the government of Ontario that featured a voiceover of former President Ronald Reagan warning about the dangers of tariffs.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded calmly Friday morning on the tarmac in Ottawa.

“We can’t control the trade policy of the United States. We recognize that that policy has fundamentally changed from the policy in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, and it’s a situation where the United States has tariffs against every one of their trading partners,” he told reporters. “What we can control, absolutely, is how we build here at home.… What we can also control, or at least heavily influence, is developing new partnerships and opportunities, including with the economic giants of Asia, which is the focus of this trip.”

Mark Carney: "We can't control the trade policy of the United States. We recognize that policy has fundamentally changed from the policy in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and it's a situation where the US has tariffs against every one of their trading partners ... what we can control… pic.twitter.com/7oKOxVC96J

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 24, 2025

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also chimed in, posting Reagan’s full speech that inspired the ad, in which the former president openly bemoans having to use tariffs against Japan. “Imposing such tariffs or trade barriers, or restrictions of any kind, are steps that I am loath to take.”

It isn’t hard to read between the lines here. Canada will be moving forward with its own plans and policies with or without the United States, no matter how much Trump posts.