Carney confirms apology to Trump, says anti-tariff ad ‘not something I would have done’
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday confirmed his apology to President Trump earlier this week after an ad aired in Ontario that was critical of Trump’s tariffs and used comments from former President Reagan to argue against the trade policy.
“I did apologize to the president,” Carney, who added that he tried to steer Ontario Premier Doug Ford against airing the ad, told reporters after Asia-Pacific (APEC) summit in South Korea, Reuters reported.
“The president was offended by the act, or by the ad, rather … It’s not something I would have done — which is to put in place that advertisement — and so I apologized to him,” he said later, according to the New York Times.
Trump on Friday told reporters that he spoke with the prime minister and called Carney “very nice.”
“He apologized for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial. You know, it was the exact opposite. Ronald Reagan loved tariffs, and they tried to make it look the other way,” the president said aboard Air Force One. “And he did apologize and I appreciate it.”
Ford, who has been a vocal opponent to Trump’s import tax hikes, aired the ad despite Carney’s apparent premonition. The video was also scheduled to run on screens during the 2025 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays.
Trump blasted the edited footage as “possibly” artificial intelligence and accused the U.S.’s northern neighbor of giving out misinformation. In response, he moved to cut off trade negotiations and raised standing tariff on Canada by an additional 10 percent.
The president on Friday said that while he appreciated Carney’s concession, he would not resume trade talks with Canada at this time.
In the wake of the ad, local leaders have defended Ford’s stance.
“I support the premier’s approach,” Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown told CBC earlier this month. “It’s got a lot of coverage.”
“And the words are truthful, despite what they’re trying to spin and say that, you know, it’s only a portion of the speech, Ronald Reagan viewed tariffs as taxes that would cost America in the long term,” he added.
Trump has also alleged Canada was attempting to meddle with an upcoming case before the Supreme Court looking at the challenges to the administration’s tariffs. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for Nov. 5.