Former Reagan Advisor Takes Aim at Trump’s Tariff Clash with Canada
In an unexpected turn in the US-Canada trade battle, a former Reagan top advisor openly blasted Trump’s reaction to a Canadian government commercial. The Ontario commercial featured Reagan’s 1987 address against tariffs and trade restrictions. Trump accused Canada of misrepresenting Reagan’s historical position and halted trade negotiations and threatened further tariffs on Canadian goods.
Bruce Bartlett, a Reagan and Bush aide, labeled Trump “the biggest baby in the history of the earth” in a public post. As a Reagan employee and reviewer of the original address, Bartlett said that the commercial accurately portrayed Reagan’s free-trade warning. Barrington said the White House’s claim that Reagan “loved” tariffs was a lie and a distortion of history.
Trump said Reagan strongly supported tariffs for national advantage and accused the Ontario government of “fraudulently” repurposing a Reagan speech to undermine U.S. interests. Trump promptly canceled “ALL trade negotiations with Canada” after claiming the ad distorted Reagan’s purpose. This worried trade specialists in both nations about rising tensions.
The Ontario commercial rearranged the 1987 speech out of chronological sequence and excluded content like Reagan’s targeted tariffs. Reagan first warned that “high tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars” and might reduce markets, fail enterprises, and cost jobs. Reagan applied some tariffs, but Bartlett says they were restricted and didn’t change the 1987 speech’s premise that open competition and trade were important for progress.
Ontario’s premier pulled the commercial after the scandal. Trump labeled the maneuver a “dirty play” and said he could “play dirtier” than his opponents. President Trump’s public use of these words and his tariff posture indicate rising trade tensions with important allies.
This episode has multiple meanings. It juxtaposes historical interpretation of a venerated former president with modern political maneuvering. On another, it shows how trade policy and message can fuse with personality, public image, and international diplomacy. Based on his Reagan administration expertise and insider insight, Bartlett’s harsh criticism of Trump is credible.
The unexpected end of trade talks may affect supply chains, cross-border investment, and consumer prices in the U.S. and Canada, according to economists and trade experts. Growing uncertainty affects American businesses that import or export from Canada. The potential of unilateral U.S. tariffs has Canadian exporters worried about one of the world’s major trading relationships.
This story explores how politics and policy can interact with official speech, historical memory, and business. A mild trade debate has become a fierce argument over history, nationalism, and economic policy. With Bartlett’s public criticism of Trump, the trade conflict has become a struggle for Reagan’s economic legacy.
Sources
Yahoo News
Mediaite
