President Donald Trump announced Saturday that the United States will impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian imports, saying Canada aired a deceptive advertisement using altered audio and video of former President Ronald Reagan to undermine his administration’s tariff policy.
President Donald Trump charged that Canada was “caught, red handed” using manipulated clips of Ronald Reagan in an anti-tariff advertisement broadcast during the World Series. The advertisement, produced by the government of Ontario, featured Reagan appearing to denounce tariffs, prompting an immediate response from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.
In his Truth Social post, Trump cited a statement from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that said that Canada had “created an ad campaign using selective audio and video of President Ronald Reagan,” and that the material “misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address.” The foundation added that Canada “did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks” and was “reviewing its legal options.”
Trump asserted, “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.” He continued, “Now the United States is able to defend itself against high and overbearing Canadian Tariffs (and those from the rest of the World as well!). Ronald Reagan LOVED Tariffs for purposes of National Security and the Economy, but Canada said he didn’t!”
The ad’s broadcast comes one day after Trump ended trade talks with Canada, as Breitbart News previously reported. The president halted negotiations following the initial discovery of the ad, writing that “ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.” He wrote the advertisement was intended “to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” and called tariffs “very important to the national security and economy of the U.S.A.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who had pledged earlier this year to “fight” Trump’s tariffs, recently softened his approach. Carney’s administration lifted steel and aluminum tariffs on American and Chinese imports on October 15, citing economic pressure on Canadian manufacturers. The move came after months of speculation about a potential U.S.-Canada trade deal that could have been finalized during the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The new tariff escalation marks a setback in those negotiations. Trump’s announcement Saturday follows months of shifting relations between Washington and Ottawa. Earlier this month, Breitbart News reported that Carney left a White House meeting “empty-handed” after failing to secure relief on steel and automotive tariffs. Despite a cordial relationship between the two leaders, Trump maintained that Canada must “see eye-to-eye” with the United States on trade and national security priorities.
Trump concluded his post by confirming the penalty: “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.”
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