Sunday, November 2, 2025 - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed that he apologised to US President Donald Trump after a controversial anti-tariff advertisement featuring late former US President Ronald Reagan sparked a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday,
November 1, Carney acknowledged that Trump had been angered by the ad, which
the US president described as a “fake anti-tariff campaign”.
“I did apologise to the president. The president was
offended,” Carney said, noting that trade talks between Canada and the United
States, which Trump had abruptly terminated, would resume “when the
US is ready.”
The apology came after Trump announced a 10 per cent
increase in tariffs on Canadian goods, effectively halting all ongoing trade
negotiations between Ottawa and Washington.
The ad in question, reportedly produced by a Canadian
advocacy group without official government backing, had used archival footage
of Reagan criticising trade barriers, which Trump claimed was manipulated to
attack his administration’s policies.
While Carney did not clarify whether the Canadian government
had any role in the advertisement’s release, his public apology signals an
effort to de-escalate tensions following a week of heated exchanges between
officials on both sides of the border.
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