Drawing a strong rebuke from President Trump, the Ontario government bought ad time during the first game of the World Series on Friday night to run clips of President Ronald Reagan’s 1987 “Radio Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.” (The ad also ran during Game Two, despite the blowback.)
With Canada and the U.S. still divided on tariffs and trade, the Ontario ad was meant to use Reagan to make its case against Trump’s hardline on Canadian exports to the U.S.
In his speech, Reagan warned about the dangers of protectionism and denigrated tariffs as a trade barriers that “over the long run hurt every American worker.”
It’s official: Ontario’s new advertising campaign in the U.S. has launched.
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
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 16, 2025
Trump, who hung a portrait of Reagan in his newly decorated Oval Office, responded by calling the ad “fake.” The POTUS claimed the Canadian province “fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”
Trump’s response wasn’t just vitriolic — he terminated further trade talks with Canada while also saying he would increase tariffs on Canadian goods an additional 10 percent “because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act.”
In response to the President, Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence is amplifying the new op-ed written by The Wall Street Journal editorial board titled, ‘Reagan vs. Trump on Tariffs.’
Pence emphasized the subtitle, repeating: “The Gipper was a free trader, no matter what the current President says.” (Reagan, from his acting days, retained the nickname The Gipper when he entered politics.)
Reagan vs. Trump on Tariffs: The Gipper was a free trader, no matter what the current President says.- WSJ https://t.co/UFRurJmmDt
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) October 27, 2025
Note: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute has said the ad “misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address, and the Government of Ontario did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks.”
The Reagan Foundation cites “selective audio and video” used out of chronological order as the misrepresentation, though a PBS factcheck concludes, “the ad’s overall message doesn’t misrepresent Reagan’s views on tariffs. Reagan said he believed that in the long-term tariffs would lead to trade wars and hurt Americans.”
Below is the President’s son, Eric Trump, who — while promoting his new book ‘Under Siege’ — told the Reagan Foundation that his father “always respected Reagan immensely…probably more respect for Ronald Reagan than any other president.”
.@EricTrump on President Trump’s deep respect for Ronald Reagan. pic.twitter.com/0CMTNvYuEG
— Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute (@RonaldReagan) October 20, 2025