Canada PM Mark Carney reveals he apologised to Trump after Reagan ad derails trade talks

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday revealed that he apologised to US President Donald Trump over an anti-tariff ad featuring former US president Ronald Reagan. Days after Trump announced that he would be hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10 per cent and suspended trade talks with the nation, Carney, while talking to the press in the South Korean city of Gyeongju said that "I did apologise to the president. The President was offended." He also said that the US-Canada talks would restart whenever Washington was "ready".

Why did Trump stop US-Canada trade talks?

The trade relationship between the United States and Canada took an unexpected turn last month, after a decades-old speech by former US president Ronald Reagan triggered a diplomatic storm. It began when Ontario Premier Doug Ford ran an ad in US markets featuring Reagan’s 1987 remarks denouncing tariffs. The video, meant to celebrate cross-border unity, quickly caught Donald Trump’s attention — and his fury. Within hours, Trump announced that all US trade talks with Canada were “terminated.”

Soon after, speaking on X, Ford sought to strike a conciliatory tone. "Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours, and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together," he wrote. But the backlash from Washington grew so intense that Ford later said, after consulting Prime Minister Mark Carney, he would pull the ad campaign by Monday.

Ford's office, however, countered that the ad used "an unedited excerpt from one of Reagan’s public addresses, which is available through public domain", and posted a longer version online for transparency.

What was the ad about?

The one-minute ad featured Reagan saying that "trade barriers hurt every American worker." But Trump accused Canada of running a "fake" and "fraudulent" video, and without offering any evidence to back the claim, declared all trade negotiations suspended. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added fuel, claiming the clip took Reagan’s words "out of context." The Reagan Foundation joined the criticism, saying Ontario used Reagan’s remarks without permission and "misrepresents" his intent.