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Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced he will pause his headline-grabbing anti-tariff ad campaign effective Monday — but only after the commercials run through the World Series weekend. President Trump promptly announced he was terminating trade talks with Canada over the spot, a dramatic escalation that proves foreign officials shouldn’t be meddling in debates about American economic policy.
The ad uses excerpts from a 1987 Ronald Reagan address criticizing tariffs and was aimed squarely at U.S. audiences, running on networks that reach conservative voters. Ford poured millions into the campaign and openly bragged it was designed to “reach every Republican district,” a nakedly political move from a provincial leader that crossed the line into interference.
Mr. Trump’s reaction was swift and unambiguous: he posted that he was ending all negotiations after seeing the ad, calling it an unacceptable provocation from a foreign government. The Reagan Presidential Foundation and other voices raised alarms about the ad’s use of Reagan’s words, and there are questions about whether Ontario’s team overstepped legal and ethical bounds by repurposing that material.
Ford defended his decision as a win — “we reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels” — and said the campaign would be paused so talks could resume, but only after the partisan stunt aired during prime World Series slots. That’s the kind of theatrical grandstanding that hurts real workers: cheap political theater put ahead of steady, pragmatic diplomacy and cross-border commerce.
This is not a sideshow without consequences. Economists warn that sudden diplomatic flare-ups and tit-for-tat posturing threaten the integrated North American supply chains Americans rely on, especially in the auto industry, where parts cross the border multiple times before becoming a finished vehicle. If trade negotiations stall or USMCA review talks are disrupted, American workers and consumers could pay the price for diplomatic virtue signaling.
Patriots of every party should be irked by foreign actors trying to steer American policy debates by buying ad time and invoking our icons. Ronald Reagan’s legacy is not a prop for provincial politics, and President Trump was right to call out behavior that undercuts American negotiating leverage. If Canada or its provinces want better outcomes, they should negotiate directly — not try to manufacture pressure with media stunts.
Americans who work for a living deserve leaders who put jobs and national interest first, not headlines. The sensible path now is firm diplomacy: hold trade partners accountable, defend American interests, and don’t be browbeaten by soundbites manufactured abroad. Washington should use this moment to remind the world that the United States will not have its policy shaped by foreign ad buys or theatrical provincial politicians.
