‘He was offended’: Canada PM says he apologised to Trump over Reagan ad; had drawn ire of US

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday that he has apologised to US President Donald Trump for an anti-tariff advertisement. “I did apologise to the president. The president was offended,” Carney told reporters in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, adding that trade talks would resume when the US is “ready,” as reported by AFP.“I’m the one who is responsible in my role as prime minister for the relationship with the president of the United States,” Carney added. “So things happen. We take the good with the bad, and I apologized.” Trump announced a 10 percent increase in tariffs on Canadian goods and suspended all trade talks after denouncing as “fake” an anti-tariff ad campaign that featured former US President Ronald Reagan.Trump earlier confirmed that Carney had apologised for the Ontario government advertisement, saying he maintains a “good relationship” with the Canadian leader. “I have a very good relationship [with Carney]. I like him a lot, but what they did was wrong. He was very nice. He apologized for what they did with the commercial,” Trump said on Friday, as cited by the CBC. “It was a false commercial. It was the exact opposite — Ronald Reagan loved tariffs,” Trump added.A few days after the ad aired, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute criticised the Ontario government on social media. Trump also announced that he had “terminated all trade talks with Canada.”“The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs,” Trump said through a post on Truth Social“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump added. Ontario Premier Doug Ford agreed to suspend the ad campaign, but only after it was broadcast again during the World Series.