Trump terminates Canada trade talks after ad with Republican hero Reagan criticising tariffs

The president of the United States (U.S.), Donald Trump, has ended all trade talks with Canada after an advertisement featuring an audio from a speech by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan criticising tariffs on foreign goods.

According to CNN, the ad took audio from a 1987 speech where Reagan says tariffs are hurting "every American worker and consumer" and triggering "fierce trade wars".

This led the Ronald Reagan Foundation to claim that the audio misrepresented the speech and that the Ontario government had not obtained permission to use the clip.

Trump later criticised the ad on his Truth Social.

"The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts.

TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT"

Here is the ad that led to this kerfuffle.

It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.

Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.

Watch our new ad. pic.twitter.com/SgIVC1cqMJ

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 16, 2025

Deep and searing

Reagan's address in question is available, in full, via the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

In it, he justifies the use of trade restrictions to ensure that trade is fair, but also gives a robust defence of free trade practices, including citing tariff barriers in the wake of the Great Depression as causing suffering that was "deep and searing".

Reagan is still venerated by many Republicans as a conservative icon, but like Trump, he is deeply disliked by those on the left of U.S. politics.

Image from Trump/X via Washington Times