Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has confirmed that he apologised to US President Donald Trump after a controversial anti-tariff advertisement featuring late former US President Ronald Reagan sparked a diplomatic dispute between the two countries.
Speaking to reporters in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Saturday, November 1, Carney acknowledged that Trump had been angered by the ad, which the US president described as a “fake anti-tariff campaign”.
“I did apologise to the president. The president was offended,” Carney said, noting that trade talks between Canada and the United States, which Trump had abruptly terminated, would resume “when the US is ready.”
The apology came after Trump announced a 10 per cent increase in tariffs on Canadian goods, effectively halting all ongoing trade negotiations between Ottawa and Washington.
The ad in question, reportedly produced by a Canadian advocacy group without official government backing, had used archival footage of Reagan criticising trade barriers, which Trump claimed was manipulated to attack his administration’s policies.
While Carney did not clarify whether the Canadian government had any role in the advertisement’s release, his public apology signals an effort to de-escalate tensions following a week of heated exchanges between officials on both sides of the border.
