FORD’S REAGAN AD SHAKES UP U.S. – CANADA RELATIONS — AND INFURIATES TRUMP
By TWAT News Staff | www.TWATNews.com | October 24, 2025
In a bold and unexpected move, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has launched an advertising campaign aimed squarely at the United States — and it’s already sent diplomatic shockwaves across the border. The ad features the voice and words of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, taken directly from his 1987 “Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.” The speech, which is part of the public domain, was skillfully repurposed by Ford’s media team to highlight how tariffs harm both American and Canadian workers while undermining decades of shared economic prosperity.
The ad, aired on major U.S. networks, struck a chord with viewers — but it also struck a nerve with one man in particular: Donald J. Trump. Within hours of the ad’s debut, Trump took to his social media platform to announce that “all trade negotiations with Canada are terminated — effective immediately.” His justification? He accused Ontario’s government of “using fake media and the dead to attack America’s trade policy,” referring to Reagan’s voice as “AI propaganda.” Ironically, Reagan’s words were neither fake nor AI-generated — they were authentic, historically documented, and publicly available for anyone to use.
Ford’s ad was unapologetically assertive — a reminder that Canada, and particularly Ontario, will not quietly accept U.S. tariff aggression. It appealed directly to American voters and businesses hurt by Trump’s protectionist policies, emphasizing the shared economic pain caused by tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automotive parts. “Trade barriers hurt families on both sides of the border,” the ad’s closing line declared — echoing Reagan’s own philosophy of open markets and mutual prosperity.
Trump’s reaction, however, was predictably impulsive. Instead of addressing the valid concerns raised, he responded with anger, isolationism, and retaliation — behavior that has become his political trademark. By abruptly cancelling negotiations, Trump has once again proven that his policies are guided not by strategy, but by ego and emotion. The fallout threatens to deepen the economic rift between the U.S. and Canada, disrupt cross-border supply chains, and push the two nations further apart during a time when cooperation is desperately needed.
The irony of the situation cannot be overstated. Doug Ford — a conservative premier — invoked Reagan, the Republican icon, to defend fair trade and criticize tariffs, while Trump, who idolizes Reagan in rhetoric, rejected the very ideals Reagan stood for. The use of a public domain presidential speech was a powerful symbolic move — one that used America’s own words to expose the hypocrisy of its current leadership.
As Trump isolates himself with each erratic outburst, Ford’s calculated communication strategy has placed Canada — and Ontario — firmly in control of the public narrative. In the end, the Reagan ad wasn’t just about tariffs. It was about truth, integrity, and the willingness to stand up to a bully, even when that bully lives in the White House.