Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he apologized to US President Donald Trump for the anti-tariff ad, adding that he told Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to broadcast it.
Carney, speaking to reporters on Saturday, said that after attending the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, he privately apologized to President Trump during a dinner hosted by the South Korean president.
“I apologized to the president,” Carney said, confirming Trump’s comments made on Friday, according to the guardian.
The Canadian prime minister added that he had reviewed the ad with Ford before it aired and had opposed running it.
“I told Ford I didn’t want to move forward with the announcement,” he said.
What was the ad about?
The announcement, published on October 16, criticized Trump’s tariffs, citing a speech by former US president Ronald Reagan.
It featured excerpts from a 1987 national radio speech in which Reagan said tariffs “hurt all Americans.”
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Trump’s reaction to the announcement
The announcement drew Trump’s ire. In a post on Truth Social, he announced that he would end all trade negotiations with Canada.
Following Trump’s response, Ford assured that the ad would be withdrawn so that trade talks between the United States and Canada could resume. However, that did not happen. Instead, the ad continued to air across the United States over the weekend, including during the World Series baseball games on Friday and Saturday.
Angered by this, Trump announced an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian goods.
After the dinner in South Korea, Trump called the conversation with Carney “very nice,” but did not elaborate. However, even after the conversation, Trump said the United States and Canada will not restart trade talks.
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‘Best ad I’ve ever run’: Ontario Premier Doug Ford
Undeterred by Trump’s ads, the Ontario premier said it was “the best ad I’ve ever run.”
“Do you know why President Trump is so upset right now? It was because he was effective,” Ford said.
The ad reportedly shelled out $75 million for the 60-second ad that aired in primetime World Series programming on Fox, ESPN and Bloomberg.