Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a Canadian ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan on tariffs was “the equivalent of election interference.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “Let’s talk about Canada for one second, because while this deal is going through, the president imposed a 10% tariff, additional tariff on Canada because he didn’t like this ad that Ontario had put out featuring President Reagan talking about tariffs. The prime minister of Canada has apologized to President Trump for that ad. When can we expect that 10% tariff to be taken down?”
Bessent said, “Well, he hasn’t put on a 10% tariff. He threatened to put on a 10%.
Tapper said, “So he didn’t actually do it.”
Bessent said, “It hasn’t been put on yet. And this is unacceptable that I read that the premier of Ontario spent $75 million sending propaganda across the U.S. border via our airwave.”
Tapper said, “It’s just Ronald Reagan’s own words.”
Bessent continued, “It’s the equivalent of election interference. Nobody likes foreign election interference. Nobody likes foreign governments trying to sway public opinion for their own good.”
Tapper said, “So the 10% tariff has not been enacted, and it might not be enacted.”
Bessent said, “We’ll see. I do think it was a big setback for the Canadian government and this premier of Ontario should be ashamed.”
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