The issue of whether the prime minister and his chief of staff were aware of and endorsed an anti-tariff advertisement by the Ontario government that triggered a response from U.S. President Donald Trump accompanied Mark Carney to Singapore on Tuesday. The Prime Minister’s Office declined to provide further details on the ad, which resulted in the breakdown of trade discussions with the United States last week.
A senior federal official, speaking anonymously, reiterated that the government of Ontario, led by Premier Doug Ford, was solely responsible for the ad campaign despite the prime minister’s assertion that Ottawa was leading the negotiations. The official stated, “The decision to run this ad was made by the Ontario government, and the federal government was not involved in its creation or distribution.”
Ford defended the decision to run the ad, stating that both the prime minister and his senior advisors had reviewed it before its release. According to Ford, the objective of the television ad was to raise awareness among Americans about the impact of tariffs, a goal he believes was successfully achieved based on the ensuing discussions in the U.S.
During the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Carney was asked about Trump’s decision to halt trade talks in response to the ad, to which he advised taking the president’s stated reasons at face value. Carney emphasized that the Canadian government ultimately holds the authority in managing relations with the U.S.
Trump blamed Carney for the situation, expressing his reluctance to meet with the prime minister at the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea. Trump alleged that everyone, including the prime minister, was aware of the ad’s content.
Moreover, Trump accused Canada of meddling in U.S. legal matters, suggesting that the timing of the ad aimed to influence an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case related to his tariff authority. He announced intentions to increase tariffs on Canadian imports by an additional 10%, without specifying a date for implementation.
Trump claimed that Canada had apologized for the ad campaign, a statement Carney did not confirm, mentioning that he had not directly communicated with Trump following the trade discussions’ breakdown. Carney refrained from engaging with the media on Tuesday, focusing on a tour of the Port of Singapore and a meeting with the CEO of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, a prominent sovereign wealth fund managing substantial assets worldwide.