The ad that stirred a hornet's nest, and made Canadian PM Carney say sorry to Trump

In an unlikely diplomatic twist, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ended up saying sorry to Donald Trump — all thanks to an "anti-tariff" advertisement.

The Canadian premier confirmed today that he had indeed apologised to the US President after the latter took serious offence to the campaign.

The ad, brainchild of Doug Ford, Ontario’s Conservative icon, purportedly uses excerpts from the speech of former US President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, flaying tariffs while indicating that they caused trade wars and economic disasters.

Carney today said he had told Ford that he “did not want to go forward with ad”.

The ad had sparked outrage in Washington after the Reagan Foundation accused Ford’s team of using “selective audio and video” from the former president’s address.

The ad irked Trump so much that he increased tariff on Canada by 10 per cent.

Earlier this week, in a post on TruthSocial, the US President wrote, “Canada was caught, red handed, putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan’s Speech on Tariffs. The Reagan Foundation said that they, “created an ad campaign using selective audio and video of President Ronald Reagan. The ad misrepresents the Presidential Radio Address,” and “did not seek nor receive permission to use and edit the remarks.”

He went on to announce, “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.” (With inputs from Reuters)