U.S. Treasury Secretary compares Ford ad to “election interference”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent compared Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s anti-tariff Reagan-era ad to “election interference,” calling it a form of “propaganda” aimed at Americans.

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U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent compared Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s anti-tariff Reagan-era ad to “election interference,” calling it a form of “propaganda” aimed at Americans.

“This is unacceptable, that I read that the premier of Ontario spent $75 million sending propaganda across the U.S. border via our airwaves… It’s the equivalent of election interference,” Bessent said during an interview with CNN on Sunday.

“Nobody likes foreign governments trying to sway public opinion for their own good,” he added.

When asked if U.S. President Donald Trump intended to follow through on his threat to implement an additional 10% tariff on Canadian imports as retaliation for the ad campaign, Bessent said, “we’ll see.”

“I do think it was a big setback for the Canadian government and the premier of Ontario should be ashamed.”

The $75 million ad campaign launched last month. It included a commercial on U.S. networks featuring edited excerpts from a 1987 speech by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan titled “Address to the Nation on Free and Fair Trade.”

The ad compiles some of Reagan’s comments warning that protectionist policies lead to “trade wars,” job losses, and economic collapse.

Upon being informed of the ad, Trump decided to end all trade negotiations with Canada until Prime Minister Mark Carney apologized, which he did when the two leaders met in South Korea on Friday.

However, when asked by reporters whether Canada and the U.S. would resume talks on lifting tariffs on steel, aluminum, and other goods, Trump replied: “No.”

“But I have a very good relationship. I like him a lot,” Trump added, referring to Carney. “He was very nice. He apologized for what they did with the commercial.”

Meanwhile, Ford has maintained that the campaign was a success, saying on Monday that there has “never been an ad in the history of this world that has seen 12.4 billion views.”

“Even better, because of that ad, it was on the floor of the senate, and because of the ad, the Republicans lost the vote,” he added. “Four Republicans, Madam Speaker, switched sides. They talked about the ad. It’s making a massive, massive difference.”