Canadian leader Carney says he apologized to Trump for tariff ad: 'Not something I would have done'

Locked in difficult trade talks with the United States, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney disclosed Saturday he has apologized to Donald Trump for an anti-tariff television ad from one of his country's provinces that had angered the American president and led to a halt in negotiations.

“The president was offended by the act, or by the ad, rather,” Carney told a press conference before departing an international trade meeting in Asia. “It’s not something I would have done — which is to put in place that advertisement — and so I apologized to him.”

The disputed ad was aired by the province of Ontario and showcased clips from a 1987 radio address in which President Ronald Reagan warned of the dangers of tariffs. Reagan's library decried the ad as misleading because it altered the order of some of the late president's comments, and Trump then laced into Canada and cut off talks.

Carney said Saturday he told Ontario Premier Doug Ford that he didn’t think the province should run the ad campaign, noting "you saw what came of it.

“I’m the one who is responsible, in my role as prime minister, for the relationship with the president of the U.S., and the federal government is responsible for the foreign relationship with the U.S. government,” Carney explained.