The war between Canada and United States is on big time and not just on the baseball diamond.
Yes, the World Series begins Friday night on Canadian soil between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays but the first shots in this battle have been fired in the political arena.
Not since the war of 1812 have the two countries been at such odds. While it seems the trade talks are off, the trading of barbs is on.
“Canada cheated and got caught!!!” U.S. President Donald J. Trump posted to his Truth Social platform Friday morning. “They fraudulently took a big buy ad saying that Ronald Reagan did not like Tariffs, when actually he loved tariffs for our country and its national security.”
Trump doubling down over $75M ad
This was Trump doubling down on his late-night post in which he fired back on Ontario’s $75-million advertisement buy on an ad featuring Reagan speaking on April 25, 1987 in a national radio address about the ills of tariffs and protectionism.
“Based on their egregious behaviour, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated,” posted Trump late Thursday.
Trump added that Canada “fraudulently used an advertisement, which is fake, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.”
@realDonaldTrump is in full war mode against Canada on his own Truth Social. pic.twitter.com/2ncdUJwwaF
— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) October 24, 2025
Of course, this was an Ontario initiative led by Premier Doug Ford that was not fraudulent but merely an edited version of a Reagan speech that despite public complaints from the Ronald Reagan Foundation and library is something of the public record that traditionally no one needs permission to use.
That said, the Reagan Foundation said it’s looking into it legally and Trump is on the war path.
“Canada is trying to illegally influence the United States Supreme Court in one of the most important rulings in the history of our Country,” Trump posted. “Canada has long cheated on tariffs, charging our farmers as much as 400%. Now they, and other countries, can’t take advantage of the U.S. any longer.”
Ford issued his own response on X
Ford responded Friday morning by sending out an X post of his own, saying, “Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together. God bless Canada and God bless the United States.”
He also attached a link to the full Reagan address, unedited.
Canada and the United States are friends, neighbours and allies. President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together.
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) October 24, 2025
God bless Canada and God bless the United States.https://t.co/n1Nj6ofNZU
But is it too little, too late? It seems both sides are playing with fire. What we need is a ceasefire. There’s no way Canada and the United States should be fighting like this.
First the trade negotiations have been terminated by Trump — how much longer will it be before travel south of the border for Canadians could become more complicated?
Just this week Air Canada announced new flight routes out of Billy Bishop Island Airport to four American cities starting next spring as soon as the new pre-clearance security area is completed. However, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, on Sept. 25 in Banff, said of travel though Canadian airports to the U.S.: “The numbers are down” and “we’re not sure we can make the numbers work anymore … pre-clearance is something that is done at the expense of the U.S. government. We paid for it” and if “you can’t make the numbers work anymore, you’re all business people, you know what that means. You’ve got to take a look at some of these things.”
Should Ford back down?
This new ad buy was not critical of Trump but it clearly got under his skin because it was effective in reaching fellow Republican lawmakers.
The question now is should Ford stop leading with his chin – especially against a heavyweight champion like Trump? Or do you agree with the premier that taking the fight to Trump is the way to go?
Citing job losses in the auto industry in his city, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown was on Newstalk 1010 with John Moore on Friday morning agreeing with Ford’s approach, saying it’s time to take the gloves and stand up to the American bully.
Former Toronto mayor John Tory noted the “effective ad worked” and “got the attention” of American politicians.
But in a recent conversation between Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney, there was a disagreement on this front. Carney, who is expected to comment before he boards his flight to Asia, has been saying this is not the time to poke the bear.
Ford wants them to ‘feel the pain’
Poking the bear is what Ford has been doing all year.
“If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do anything, including cutting off their energy — with a smile on my face,” Ford said in March. “They need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard? We’ve got to go back twice as hard.”
Few forget the day the premier dumped the whisky out of the Crown Royal bottle to express anger over jobs near Windsor being moved stateside, saying, “If you hurt my people, I hurt you.”
These are great photo ops. But is this approach working? As of now, if you are looking for an agreement between these two countries, it does not seem to be. With almost 40,000 jobs heading south, Canada appears to be losing this trade war badly.
And who knows how much worse it could get?
Perhaps Canada can stem the tide of losses with a Blue Jays win in Game One of the World Series? If it happens, it will be the first win Canada will be able to boast over the U.S. in a long time. Carney teased at the Rogers Centre on Thursday that he’s willing to bet Trump on the World Series, but so far he has not received a call back.
If they do agree to a wager, maybe Canada is due for a win. And maybe the Blue Jays will deliver one.
