Ontario premier hopes Republicans lose House and Senate as Trump trade war escalates
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- Ontario Premier Doug Ford urges U.S. voters to punish President Trump’s escalating trade war, saying he hopes Republicans lose control of both the House and Senate in November’s midterms.
- Ford’s remarks follow Washington’s latest salvo: bans on key Canadian exports, including dairy, motorcycles and most alcoholic drinks, and moves to block Canadian firms from major long-term U.S. government contracts.
- Amid a bitter personal feud with Trump, Ford calls the president unreliable yet believes he wants a pre-midterm deal, saying the trade war has unexpectedly united Canada and reduced U.S. dependence.
TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he hopes President Trump’s Republicans lose both the House and Senate in the midterm elections, saying voters should punish Trump politically for his escalating trade war with Canada.
“Hopefully he’s going to lose the Senate. He’s going to lose Congress. I hope so, and hold him accountable,” Ford said. “But we’ll see how that goes. We aren’t going to interfere in the U.S. election.”
Ford has emerged as one of Trump’s most outspoken Canadian critics, accusing him of trying to strip industry out of Ontario and move it south of the border as the two trade personal insults and threats.
Ford’s comments came two days after Washington escalated the dispute by banning some Canadian dairy products and motorcycles and most alcoholic beverages after Canadian retaliatory tariffs took effect on about $20 billion in U.S. goods. Trump also moved to shut Canadian products out of large, long-term U.S. government contracts.
“He’s not reliable at all,” Ford said. “He could make a deal today and then change his mind. And we’ve seen that over and over again.”
Still, Ford said he believes Trump wants an agreement before the midterms and that Canada should return to negotiations as soon as possible.
“I truly believe President Trump wants a deal before the midterms,” Ford said. “I could be wrong, but I think it’s best that we sit down and get a deal.”
Last year, Trump abruptly ended trade talks with Canada after Ford’s Ontario government aired an anti-tariff television ad in the United States using former President Ronald Reagan’s criticism of tariffs.
The feud repeatedly has turned personal. In an interview with the Associated Press last month, Ford mocked Trump for keeping a portrait of Reagan near his desk while pursuing tariffs the former president had criticized, saying Reagan would be “throwing up on him from the picture if he knew what was going on.”
Trump described him as “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.”
Trump also signed an executive order directing the U.S. government to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” a name Canada does not recognize.
Ford said Thursday that Trump unintentionally strengthened Canada by forcing it to reduce its dependence on the United States.
“The only two good things Donald Trump has ever done for Canada,” Ford said, were that “he woke us up” and “he united the country like I’ve never seen before.”
Gillies writes for the Associated Press.
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