The late President Ronald Reagan was famous for many things, including his ability to deliver speeches with his weathered baritone voice, having honed his delivery over the course of 53 Hollywood films and thousands of political speeches.
Few would have predicted that that same voice would end trade talks between the U.S. and Canada.
On Thursday night, President Donald Trump abruptly pulled the plug on tariff negotiations with America’s northern neighbor after the government of Ontario aired an ad critical of tariffs that drew from a 1987 radio address by Reagan on free trade. The spot—centerpiece of a $75 million campaign that Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on October 16—was aimed at Republican voters aired on channels including Fox, Bloomberg, and Newsmax.
On his Truth Social account, Trump condemned the ad as “fraudulent” and “fake.”
The president’s anger appeared to stem as much from Ontario appropriating the voice of Reagan—long a messianic figure for the Republican party—as from its anti-tariff stance.
“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,” echoes Reagan’s voice over the ad’s stock footage of a welder, a family at the dinner table, and similar Americana. “Sometimes, for a short while, it works—but only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American, worker and consumer.”
The Reagan Library was quick to post on X that government of Ontario was “using selective audio” in the spot that “misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address” and, further, that the ad’s creators—reportedly Ford’s own team—used the audio without permission and may be met with legal action as a result.
The Canadians do not appear to be afraid of either a library lawsuit or of President Trump.
Fighting Trump’s fire with traditional Canadian affability, Ford took to X to call the U.S. a friend, neighbor, and ally. “President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together,” wrote Ford. “God bless Canada and God bless the United States.”
