President Donald Trump announced Thursday evening that he would pull trade talks with Canada after an ad, funded by Ontario’s provincial government, quoted former President Ronald Reagan warning that tariffs “hurt every American.”
In a series of furious posts on Truth Social, the president claimed Canada was “trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our Country.”
The ad features Reagan negatively speaking about tariffs in a 1987 radio address and warning that they can lead to market collapse and job loss
Despite the quotes being real, though taken somewhat out of context, Trump made the unsubstantiated claim that the ad was “FAKE.”
“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump railed.
Kevin Hassett, the White House director of the National Economic Council, said Friday the president was “frustrated” with Canada over trade negotiations.
“I think the president probably, more than anything, is frustrated with the progress he’s making with Canada and sometimes when you’re frustrated, a time out is the right call,” Hasset told Fox Business.
Trump v. Canada: How did we get here?
President Donald Trump said Thursday evening he was cutting off trade negotiations with Canada, the United States’ second-largest trading partner, after the province of Ontario ran an ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan being critical of tariffs.
Trump, who has made tariffs a staple of his second-term economic policy, raged on Truth Social over the ad that “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMY.”
The president said the ad was “fake” and was being used to “interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,” which will soon determine whether or not Trump’s tariffs are legal.
In the ad, Reagan can be heard saying, “When someone says ‘let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs.”
“Over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. High tariffs ineventiably lead inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and trade wars,” Reagan says before warning that it can lead to market collapse, job loss and other negative economic factors.
Reagan’s quotes, used in Ontario’s ad, were from a 1987 radio address in which he urged Congress not to pursue tariff policies against Japan. Although the quotes were taken out of context, there is no indication that they were doctored.
Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario, appeared to defend the ad Friday morning, writing, “Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together.”
“God bless Canada and God bless the United States.”
White House says Trump is addressing ‘unfair trade’ with Canada
The White House defended President Donald Trump’s decision to end trade with Canada, saying it’s part of the president’s efforts to make trade with the U.S.’s northern neighbor fairer.
“The Trump Administration has repeatedly sought to address Canada’s longstanding, unfair trade barriers. These good-faith efforts with Canadian officials have not led to any constructive progress,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai, said in a statement obtained by the New York Times
Desai also reiterated Trump’s claim about the video featuring former President Ronald Reagan, saying it was “misleadingly edited.”
Chuck Schumer rebukes Trump’s tariffs: ‘The madness must stop’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned President Donald Trump for ending trade talks with Canada over the anti-tariff ads, calling on him to end “the madness.”
“The madness must stop,” he said. “Refusing to negotiate with Canada to alleviate the tariffs will ensure that Americans continue to pay an average of $1,300 due to higher prices on everything from lumber to beef.”
Schumer said he would move to force a vote next week that would “reverse” Trump’s “damaging tariffs on Canada and other countries.”
Trump says Canada’s Ronald Reagan ad is fake. Is it?
President Donald Trump is asserting that Canada “fraudulently” used a speech by President Ronald Reagan to launch a negative ad about tariffs – but the talking points from Reagan are real.
“CANADA CHEATED AND GOT CAUGHT!!!” Trump raged on Truth Social Thursday evening. “They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he LOVED TARIFFS FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND ITS NATIONAL SECURITY.”
The ad features direct quotes from Reagan’s 1987 radio address and while it is not “fake” it is edited.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute also said the ad misrepresented Reagan’s speech.
Reagan had used the radio speech to explain his decision to place higher tariffs on Japanese products, though he expressed negative overall views of tariffs. Those tariffs at the time were a form of retaliation against Japan for a dispute over semiconductors.
Reagan said that although he was placing the tariffs on Japan, long-term, tariffs “hurt every American worker and consumer.”
“High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and trade wars,” Reagan says before warning that it can lead to market collapse, job loss and other negative economic factors.
If Trump’s East Wing demolition shocks you, check out what he did to priceless works meant for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
President Donald Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing is deeply unpopular with many Americans— but it isn’t the first time the former real estate mogul has bulldozed a historic site to make way for new construction.
The president’s decision to knock down the storied East Wing to build a massive, $250 million ballroom comes decades after he made an enemy out of New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art during one of his earliest developments.
Read more here:
Trump economic guru offers blunt advice to federal workers going without paychecks during government shutdown
One of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers on Friday urged federal workers who will be missing a paycheck due to the ongoing government shutdown to ask their superiors for guidance on how to access loans and other aid he claimed is available to them.
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told reporters at the White House that he and other administration officials “really feel for” the 750,000 federal civil servants who aren’t getting paid.
“We would urge people to call their supervisors, because there are things that are available, like credit loans at zero interest for people that are in the situation,” Hassett said.
He claimed the ongoing shutdown situation is “not really acceptable to us” and blamed Senate Democrats — who do not hold a majority in the upper chamber — for refusing to vote for a GOP-authored stopgap bill to fund the government through mid-November.
Pete Hegseth unleashes a new ‘lethal kinetic strike’ on boat in Caribbean
U.S. military forces have struck another alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean, destroying the vessel and killing all six aboard.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced the move in a social media post claiming his department had carried out what he called a “lethal kinetic strike” on the vessel.
Andrew Feinberg reports:
Letitia James pleads not guilty to fraud charges after Trump pushed for case against longtime foe
A two-count indictment accuses James of bank fraud and making false statements in connection with a loan for a property she purchased in 2020.
“Not guilty to both counts,” she told the judge Friday.
What halted trade talks with Canada could mean for consumers
Trump’s decision to cancel trade talks with Canada, the U.S.’s second-largest trading partner, means that the president’s current sector tariffs on aluminum, steel, lumber and others will remain as they are, increasing costs and further disrupting the supply chain.
Home building materials, vehicle parts and appliances are just some of the items affected by the current tariffs and will likely stay more expensive for some time.
Canada removed its retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. in September, but it could reimpose them to put pressure on the president to open up trade talks. So far, Canada has not made any move in response to Trump.
Companies passed 37% of tariff costs on to consumers – and that figure is set to jump
Companies have so far passed almost 40 percent of Donald Trump’s foreign import tariffs onto consumers, though that figure may still increase further.
Even large manufacturers who have been able to absorb many of the costs of the international levies have warned that should the situation continue, or even worsen, they will be forced to hike up prices.
Since Trump’s announcement of sweeping global tariffs in April, companies have passed about 37 percent on to consumers, 9 percent onto their suppliers and absorbed 51 percent through August, according to research by Goldman Sachs.
So far the tangible effects on consumers’ wallets have been limited, though sectors including the auto industry have warned that they cannot hold out forever, continuing to shield their customers from further price increases.
