What started as a late-night tantrum from President Donald Trump has turned into a public relations gift for Canada. With a few furious posts on social media, the president managed to turn a relatively obscure political advertisement into a viral sensation — all while reminding Americans that his economic philosophy stands in stark contrast to that of Ronald Reagan, the conservative icon he often invokes.
Trump’s latest eruption came Thursday night when he abruptly announced that he was terminating all trade talks with Canada in response to a new ad campaign launched by the Ontario government. The campaign, which reportedly cost about $50 million, uses audio and video clips of Reagan warning that tariffs ultimately “hurt every American worker and consumer.”
The ad, intended to highlight how U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods would backfire economically, likely would have gone mostly unnoticed outside Canada — until Trump threw a spotlight on it.
Within hours of his post, clips of the ad flooded social media. Major U.S. networks replayed Reagan’s words, and the hashtag #ReaganWasRight trended on X (formerly Twitter).
“Well played, Mr. President,” one journalist quipped online. “If Trump wanted to make sure every American saw the ad, he couldn’t have done a better job.”
Trump’s Fury Over Reagan’s Words
In his late-night post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute had denounced the ad and that Canada had acted “fraudulently.”
“The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs,” Trump wrote.
As with many of Trump’s pronouncements, the claim was only partly tethered to reality.
The Reagan Foundation did issue a statement, but it did not accuse Canada of fraud. Rather, it expressed disappointment that the ad used “selective audio and video” from a 1987 radio address about free trade. The foundation said the material was used without permission and that it was “reviewing legal options.”
What the statement did not dispute, however, was that Reagan truly said what the ad claimed — that tariffs are harmful to the U.S. economy.
The full speech, available from the Reagan Presidential Library, shows Reagan unequivocally rejecting protectionism:
“We should be very clear about this — protectionism almost always ends up hurting the people it is supposed to help. Tariffs are taxes, and they hurt every American worker and consumer.”
Those words now echo with renewed force, especially as Trump’s second-term trade agenda relies heavily on sweeping tariffs imposed under claims of national security.
Public Domain, Public Attention
While the Reagan Foundation lamented not being consulted, the 1987 speech is part of the public domain, meaning that Ontario officials were within their rights to use it. The campaign was reportedly designed to reach American audiences, particularly in border states that rely on trade with Canada.
Before Trump’s outburst, the campaign’s reach had been modest. But after his post, the ad was shared by U.S. media outlets, amplified by political commentators, and even replayed during evening news broadcasts.
“Trump has effectively given a $50 million campaign the kind of earned media money can’t buy,” one media analyst told CBC News. “He transformed a niche trade message into a viral political event.”
The Supreme Court Case Looming in the Background
Trump’s tirade also appears to have been fueled by timing. The president is awaiting a Supreme Court decision on whether he overstepped his authority in imposing tariffs on dozens of countries under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
A federal appeals court ruled in August that the administration’s sweeping use of the law to levy tariffs was unconstitutional, arguing that the IEEPA was never meant to authorize permanent trade measures. Trump insists the opposite.
“TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY AND ECONOMY OF THE USA,” he wrote online, in all caps, before declaring that he was ending trade negotiations with Canada.
The irony, of course, is that Reagan — the president Trump often cites as his political role model — spent much of his tenure fighting against tariffs, arguing that they distorted markets and hurt American competitiveness.
Mixed Reactions and Media Fallout
The reaction from economists, politicians, and the public was immediate — and divided.
Supporters of Trump’s tariff strategy praised his willingness to “stand up for American workers.” But many conservatives were left uncomfortable with the spectacle of a Republican president publicly rejecting the free-market philosophy that defined the Reagan era.
“Reagan understood that open trade was a cornerstone of global prosperity,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “Trump’s approach replaces principle with populism. It’s about control, not competitiveness.”
Canadian officials, meanwhile, have remained largely silent, except for a brief statement from Ontario’s trade ministry confirming that the ad campaign would “continue as planned.” Behind the scenes, some Canadian aides reportedly “couldn’t believe their luck.”
“Trump just turned our public policy campaign into a global conversation,” one official told The Toronto Star. “We don’t need to spend another dollar on outreach.”
A Viral Lesson in Irony
For years, Trump has cultivated an image of Reagan-esque leadership — strong on defense, patriotic, and unapologetically American. Yet this latest episode underscores just how ideologically distant he is from the late president’s legacy.
Reagan championed open markets and warned against protectionism as “a dangerous path.” Trump, in contrast, has made tariffs the cornerstone of his economic nationalism, branding them as tools of strength and sovereignty.
By reacting so aggressively to the Ontario ad, Trump may have inadvertently revived Reagan’s free-trade message for a new generation of voters — and reminded older ones of how far today’s Republican Party has drifted from its roots.
Political strategists on both sides agree on one point: Trump’s outrage guaranteed the ad’s success.
“Without Trump’s reaction, it might have been a blip,” said Katy Harrington, a media professor at NYU. “Now, millions of Americans are watching Ronald Reagan warn them about tariffs — and realizing he wasn’t talking about China or Canada. He was talking about leaders like Trump.”
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