Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed Saturday that he issued a private apology to U.S. President Donald Trump over a controversial Canadian-funded anti-tariff advertisement, a stunning diplomatic concession made in an effort to thaw increasingly icy bilateral trade relations.
The ad, which used a clip of former Republican President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs, enraged President Trump and led him to abruptly halt trade negotiations and threaten increased tariffs on Canadian goods.
Speaking to reporters at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, Carney admitted that the advertisement, commissioned by the government of Ontario, was a decision he opposed and confirmed that the U.S. President was “offended.”
The Contentious Commercial and Trump’s Fury
The feud stems from a television advertisement, paid for by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government, which aired across U.S. airwaves. The ad featured an excerpt from a 1987 radio address by President Reagan, wherein he warns that, in the long term, tariffs “hurt every American worker and consumer” and trigger “fierce trade wars.”
President Trump lashed out, calling the advertisement “fake” and claiming it fraudulently misrepresented Reagan’s true stance on tariffs. In a swift and punitive response, he announced a 10% increase in tariffs on Canadian goods and, crucially, declared that “ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
The fallout placed Prime Minister Carney in an untenable position: defending a campaign he didn’t approve of while trying to manage the most critical bilateral relationship for the Canadian economy.
The Dinner and the Apology
Carney confirmed that he addressed the matter directly with President Trump during a private dinner hosted by South Korea’s president earlier this week.
“I did apologize to the president. The President was offended,” Carney told journalists, emphasizing his ultimate responsibility for the relationship. “It’s not something I would have done… and so I apologized to him.”
The Prime Minister also revealed that he had reviewed the advertisement with Premier Ford prior to its release and had advised against running it, stating, “I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad. … It’s not exactly useful.” Ford, a conservative populist often compared to Trump, initially defended the ad as “the best ad I ever ran” before agreeing to pause the campaign, though it continued to air during major U.S. programming like the World Series.
Trade Talks Remain Frozen
While the apology smooths over the personal rift between the two leaders, the geopolitical and economic damage remains.
President Trump, confirming the apology on Friday, stated, “He was very nice. He apologized for what they did with the commercial,” but confirmed that trade talks between the two countries would not resume immediately.
Carney reiterated Canada’s readiness to restart negotiations when the U.S. is prepared to do so. However, he also used the opportunity in Asia to underscore Canada’s need to diversify its trade relationships, stating his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping marked a “turning point” in relations.
The episode serves as a stark reminder that in the current era of trade nationalism, even a political advertisement thousands of miles away can hold the power to fracture a multi-billion dollar economic relationship.