Since Trump came into office, the tariff contretemps with Canada has waxed and waned, heated and cooled.
It finally blew Fidelito out of the Prime Minister's office. Thanks to the heated defensive rhetoric against Trump's verbal volleys, Canadian voters chose to replace the effeminate, ineffectual, authoritarian Trudeau with a slimy World Economic Forum tool and world banker type named Mark Carney.
A fellow who'd never once been in anything other than a bank office or Davos.
By April, the U.S. and Canada were at such loggerheads over tariffs that Canadians were disavowing their Florida dream homes, pledging to stay in the Great White North or go elsewhere. The king of smarmy, underhanded, un-American plays, California's oleaginous Gavin Newsom, was begging Canadians to come to California, because 'we hate Trump, too. And BEACHES!'
But in January of this past year, Trump's initial plans to slap a 25% tariff on everyone and see where the dust settled after that really got under the skin of one Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, Canada. Initially, Ford blustered along with the rest of the shellshocked world as they reacted to the United States finally insisting on a fair playing field. But then Ford's rhetoric really started heating up.
He claimed Trump was out to 'destroy' Canada so that he could claim it as that 51st state he'd always taunted Trudeau about being the governor of.
...Mr. Ford has emerged as one of the strongest political voices defending Canada against Mr. Trump, who argues that Canada has an unfair economic advantage over the United States.
“He’s going to try to devastate our country,” Mr. Ford recently told reporters of the U.S. president.
Ontario’s auto industry is deeply intertwined with that of the United States, with parts and components crossing back and forth numerous times before vehicles are fully assembled.
A blanket tariff of 25 percent that Mr. Trump said he would apply on Feb. 1 would decimate Canada’s economy, and the province could lose as many as 500,000 jobs, according to Mr. Ford.
And then the pugnacious and bombastic Ford pulled what he thought would be his penultimate Trump card.
Ontario, Ford said, would simply cut off the power they supplied to the US in retaliation for the tariffs and be happy to do so.
After all, someone had to defend the homeland. Ford would be that hero.
...Ontario is also a major producer of hydroelectric power that flows across the border and provides energy to New England, something Mr. Ford said the province could withhold as a form of retaliation.
“We will go to the extent of cutting off their energy,” he said recently.
At such a potentially perilous moment, Mr. Ford said Canada was hobbled by lacking a strong bargaining position at the federal level, in part because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to step down and make way for a new party leader and prime minister.
“You need a loud voice at the table,” Mr. Ford said, who has been wearing a cap that reads, “Canada is not for sale,” a reference to Mr. Trump’s musings about Canada becoming another U.S. state.
By March, the power was still on, but Ford had slapped his own 25% tariff on whatever trons went over the border.
That had the lasting power of a gnat's life.
When you go into a you-know-what measuring contest against Trump, you'd best be prepared for mortal combat.
So that didn’t take long. Ontario Premier Doug Ford folded like a cheap newspaper and is backing down from his threat of imposing tariffs on electricity to the US after Trump threatened to hit Canada with aluminum and steel tariffs of 50%. pic.twitter.com/RpGy6eSMTx
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 11, 2025
In the meantime, over the course of the next months, Canada and the US gradually eased their tense stance, and Trump and PM Carney developed an affable enough working relationship. Trade talks and tariff negotiations continued, with Trump extending grace periods interspersed with ultimatums that gnawed at everyone's stomach lining, sure.
But by the first week of this month, both leaders were at the White House and announcing 'We have just about done it' with big, beaming smiles and lots of bonhomie all around.
President Donald Trump predicted that Canadians will travel to the United States once again after a trade deal is reached.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office while meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday that he understands why many Canadians are refusing to visit.
Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state to avoid tariffs has infuriated Canadians, who are canceling trip s to the U.S. in big numbers. There’s been a 23% drop in Canadian visits to the U.S. in the first seven months of the year versus the same period in 2024, according to Canada’s national statistical office.
“I understand that. Look, I understand that,” Trump said before predicting Canada and the U.S. would ultimately reach a deal.
...Carney entered the visit hoping to find some relief on sector-specific tariffs. Trump has some sector-specific tariffs on Canada, known as Section 232 tariffs, that are having an impact. There are 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, for example.
After the meeting, Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, described the talks as “successful” and “positive” on trade issues, though he noted the conversation would continue. He said Canada was looking to get a deal done quickly on steel and aluminum.
*sigh*
GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES
At the same point where Trump and Carney were frolicking and playing grabbies in the White House, seeing light at the end of the tariff tunnel and a sense that the end of the long Canadian national nightmare was nearly over, little did the two leaders know that the Troll of Ontario was fixin' to drop a bomb into the middle of their delicate pas de deux.
Surly Doug Ford somehow had $75M to blow, and he bought himself a MOAB:
Mother
of
All
BRAINDEAD BLUNDERS
And he stealth dropped it on the airwaves.
No one noticed it until the moo-rons paid the big bucks to play it this week during the American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, which was pulling 9 million viewers.
Keep in mind that SCOTUS will hear the case on tariff authority in two weeks, too.
Listen to the voiceover.
It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 16, 2025
Using every tool we have, we’ll never stop making the case against American tariffs on Canada. The way to prosperity is by working together.
Watch our new ad. pic.twitter.com/SgIVC1cqMJ
Yeah. That's exactly who you think it is - Ronald Reagan. The Gipper's voice and words ARE a Canadian government ad against American tariffs.
Worse, it's only part of a speech where Reagan is explaining how and why he IMPOSED tariffs on the Japanese, so the context is completely and purposefully skewed.
It actually takes gall to be so dishonest @benryanwriter
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) October 24, 2025
“Here is the full video of Reagan’s remarks about tariffs”???
Wow.
You literally cut out the last 55 seconds, which was the most important part in which Reagan speaks of the need for a President to have the power to… https://t.co/QRjyqPrkvf pic.twitter.com/mKrcQkqx4h
...You literally cut out the last 55 seconds, which was the most important part in which Reagan speaks of the need for a President to have the power to impose tariffs.
I show exactly where you cut your video, and I added the last 55 seconds that you cut from from your “full video”.
How are you not ashamed of yourself? Serious question.
The Reagan Library is beside itself. The folks there released a statement saying the audio and video used had been selective, it misrepresented the Presidential Radio Address, Ontario had not sought nor received permission to use any of it, and they were looking into legal options.
President Trump flat-out called it a fake, a blatant attempt to influence a SCOTUS case, and immediately called off all tariff negotiations with Canada as of last night.
Oh, well done, Ontario Troll! You sure showed us.
Breaking: U.S. President Donald Trump just posted on Truth Social that "ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HERBY TERMINATED." pic.twitter.com/zQ2yyYdoHW
— Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) October 24, 2025
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
If I were Doug Ford, who is still blustering that he's going to play the ad during the World Series, I would be far more worried about making sure I have a guard around the house for when the mobs with torches and pitchforks show up.
Once again Canada is going viral for all the wrong reasons.
— Leah 🇨🇦 True Crime Canada (@CanTrueCrime) October 24, 2025
Doug ford wasted $75 million of Ontario taxpayers money on a ridiculous tariff ad campaign when the province is hemorrhaging thousands of jobs weekly.
He needs to resign. https://t.co/tsU94eM3rs
I have a feeling that could be coming.
Great idea eyyy ? pic.twitter.com/I7WiXRHVmo
— The Blind Squirrel (@BullishTopCalla) October 24, 2025
It's a panicpalooza.
After Ontario Was Caught Pushing $75 MILLION In Ads Trying To Sway The U.S. Supreme Court On Tarrifs, @POTUS Trump Canceled All Trade Negotiations With Canada!
— John Basham (@JohnBasham) October 24, 2025
Canadian PM Carney Is Scared & Currently In Asia Trying To Find Any Country To Replace The U.S. Trade! pic.twitter.com/8odFo5muxv
I'm not sure what the next move is for anyone north of the border, but it's going to take some time for Team Trump to simmer down.
There are some things you should know enough not to mess with.
Beege ADDS: BWAHahahahaha
That's unfortunate.
— Friends of Science (@FriendsOScience) October 24, 2025
Elbows Up or Down?https://t.co/NyiPJZ5de3 #onpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/pogMpCXdcU
