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The trade war between the US and Canada erupted into an extraordinary exchange of insults and threats between President Donald Trump and Doug Ford, the leader of Ontario.<\/p>\n
The White House put tariffs of 50% on some Canadian goods Saturday after trade talks collapsed. That prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney to announce hours later that Canada will impose counter-tariffs.<\/p>\n
He was backed strongly by Ford, whose province is on the front line of Trump\u2019s tariffs as Canada\u2019s auto and steel manufacturing heartland. On Saturday, the premier likened Trump to a schoolyard bully who\u2019d steal your lunch money and your hat, and said Canada should be ready to use electricity and critical minerals that the US needs as leverage.<\/p>\n
Then, on Monday, Trump threatened on social media to double tariffs on Canadian autos to 50% to punish Carney\u2019s decision to retaliate. Ford was in the middle of a radio interview, and the host read out the president\u2019s entire post.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can kiss my a\u2014\u2014 \u00a0as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d the Ontario premier said immediately.<\/p>\n
The war of words only spiralled from there.<\/p>\n
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Trump posted on Truth Social calling Ford \u201cthe less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.\u201d That was a reference to Doug Ford\u2019s younger sibling, who made global headlines in 2013 when, as mayor of Toronto, a video emerged of him smoking crack cocaine. He died of cancer in 2016.<\/p>\n
The US president also called Ford the \u201cFlunky\u201d of \u201cGovernor\u201d Carney, a jibe he returns to when relations sour, alongside saying Canada should be the 51st US state.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember, much of the Electricity, Oil, and Gas that Canada gets is transported through the U.S.A.,\u201d Trump added. \u201cSomeone should get these clowns to \u2018fall in line\u2019 or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!\u201d<\/p>\n
That could be read as a veiled threat against Enbridge pipelines that carry western Canadian crude through the Midwestern US, feeding refineries there before re-entering Canada again in Ontario.<\/p>\n
Ford was read some of Trump\u2019s comments at a press conference on a construction site Monday. He called Trump a \u201cdictator\u201d and repeated his previous insult before launching into a fresh tirade, as hard-hatted workers occasionally chuckled behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to take any advice off a guy that\u2019s the king of bankruptcies,\u201d Ford said. \u201cYour own people, President Trump, don\u2019t even like you. And they\u2019re going to speak loud and clear when it comes to the midterms.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked again about Trump\u2019s social media attacks, Ford said, \u201cI\u2019m not going to take the bait,\u201d before deciding to take the bait. \u201cThis guy\u2019s a loser,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI have more courage, more brains in my baby toe than he has in his whole body.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s a reprise of a role Ford played a year ago as the Canadian who most gets under Trump\u2019s skin. Ford briefly imposed a surcharge on the electricity Ontario exports to New York, Michigan and Minnesota, prompting Trump to threaten to increase tariffs on Canadian steel to 50%. Ford quickly backed down.<\/p>\n
Three months later, Trump put global steel tariffs at 50% anyway.<\/p>\n
Then, last October, Ford\u2019s government ran TV commercials in the US using an address of former President Ronald Reagan speaking out against tariffs. That led Trump to terminate trade talks with Canada. Negotiations over one of the world\u2019s biggest trading relationships went quiet for months, but Ford defended it as the \u201cbest ad that\u2019s ever been run.\u201d<\/p>\n
In some ways, Ford and Trump are alike \u2014 both are teetotalers and populist conservative politicians with backgrounds in business. Both have even had recent controversies over their official aircraft.<\/p>\n
In response to the trade war, Ford has emulated Trump\u2019s famous red \u2018Make America Great Again\u2019 baseball caps. The Ontario premier has donned a navy blue version emblazoned with \u2018Canada Is Not For Sale.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
#Flunky #loser #Trump #trades #wild #insults #Canadas #Ford<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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