The premier of Canada’s most powerful province — and arguably the country’s most successful politician today — has gotten under

Donald Trump’s skin again. An anti-tariff ad launched by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government prompted Trump to lash out Thursday night, announcing

all trade negotiations with Canada had been halted. The ad uses excerpts from a 1987 speech by former President Ronald Reagan, in which he defended free trade and criticized the idea

tariffs lead to economic gains . Trump’s eruption followed his more muted reaction earlier in the week, when he said, “If I was Canada, I’d take that same ad also.” Ford told reporters at the time he was sure Trump “

wasn’t too happy ” about the ad, and said he hopes “Reagan Republicans” will win against “the MAGA group” in the debate over protectionist trade policies.

Ford posted a short message Friday morning following Trump’s latest move, saying the two countries are “friends, neighbours and allies.” He included a link to Reagan’s full speech.

“President Ronald Reagan knew that we are stronger together,” Ford added.

A spokesperson for the premier said the ad will run during the broadcast of the World Series, which begins Friday evening in Toronto.

This isn’t the first time Ford has irritated the Trump administration as the two countries spar over trade. Earlier this year, Ford imposed a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to some American states in response to tariffs slapped on Canada. But he quickly backed down after Trump threatened to double steel and aluminum tariffs from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

A few months later, Trump doubled those tariffs, anyway. Ford has been one of the loudest critics of Trump in Canadian politics, maintaining an adversarial stance against the president’s trade policies and advocating for Canada to fight back against United States tariffs. His province has been hammered by tariffs on the automotive and steel sectors.

The premier’s strategy has brought him electoral success, winning his Progressive Conservative party a third consecutive majority government earlier this year after running a campaign heavily focused on tariffs.

He also hasn’t minced words when talking about the president, calling him a “tyrant” and “probably the most disliked politician in the world.”

Ford’s brand of pragmatic conservatism and populist antics — such as pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal over Diageo PLC closing a facility in his province — have attracted a broad coalition of voters. That’s made him a force to be reckoned with in Canadian politics, even as some operatives have accused him of not being conservative enough. Ford has dismissed those critics as radicals.

Ford’s political style has at times made him a Canadian mirror image of Trump — earlier this year, he popularized a MAGA-style blue hat emblazoned with the words, “Canada Is Not For Sale.”

The Ontario premier has maintained a strong relationship with Prime Minister Mark Carney, even as the federal government has taken a more diplomatic approach to dealing with the president. Ford acknowledged earlier this week that it’s easier for him to attack Trump than it is for the prime minister.

“It might be a little easier for me to sit here and say what I say, but it’s a lot tougher when someone’s sitting across from Donald Trump and he has a big hammer in his hand,” he said.

But Ford didn’t always feel that way about the president. Earlier this year, he was caught on a hot mic saying that he was happy when Trump was elected.

“Then the guy pulled out the knife,” and “yanked it into us,” Ford told supporters at a campaign event, using an expletive.

Ford had a career in business, working at a label and tag company started by his father, before entering political office at the municipal level in Toronto. He served on the city council when when his brother, Rob Ford, was mayor. The younger Ford made international headlines as mayor in 2013 when a video emerged of him smoking crack cocaine. He fell ill with cancer in 2014 and died in 2016.

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