Trade War Jumps into War of Words between Premier Ford and President Trump

HAMILTON — Ontario Premier Doug Ford has sharply escalated his war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump, telling the president he can “kiss my ass” and warning that Ontario is prepared to use electricity and critical minerals as leverage if Washington continues increasing tariffs on Canadian goods.

Ford first made the remark during a Toronto radio appearance Monday morning, Aug. 24, before repeating it at an afternoon news conference in Hamilton as reporters questioned him about Trump’s latest tariff threats and personal attacks.

The language drew attention, but Ford’s message went considerably further than the insult.

Premier Ford said Canada should be prepared to inflict economic pain on the United States, pledged his support for Prime Minister Mark Carney after Canada walked away from trade negotiations and suggested Ontario could again turn to electricity exports and strategically important minerals as bargaining tools.

Ford doubles down after telling Trump to ‘kiss my ass’

At Monday’s news conference, Ford was asked about his earlier radio comment.

He did not withdraw it. Ford was also asked if Prime Minister Carney had talked to him on the exchange, the Premier said no.

Instead, Ford joked about his size and repeated the insult, saying there was plenty of room for Trump to “kiss my ass.”

The confrontation followed another major escalation from Washington. Trump threatened Monday to raise U.S. tariffs on Canadian-made cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to 50 per cent beginning Jan. 1, 2027.

The trade agreement under discussion before negotiations collapsed would have reduced U.S. tariffs on Canadian cars and light-duty trucks from 25 per cent to 15 per cent and steel and aluminum tariffs from 50 per cent to 25 per cent. Disagreement remained over several issues, including treatment of medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

Ford argued Trump’s approach amounted to an economic attack on Canada’s closest trading relationship.

Ford calls Trump a bully and a loser

Ford’s criticism became intensely personal during the news conference.

He called Trump a bully and compared him to a schoolyard aggressor who takes another student’s lunch money, toque and running shoes.

Ford also called Trump a “loser” and said he would not take economic lessons from the U.S. president. At one point, Ford described Trump as a dictator — Ford’s characterization, not an objective description of the U.S. political system.

The premier also suggested Trump’s tariff policies ultimately tax American consumers by increasing the cost of imported goods.

Economically, tariffs are collected by the importing country from importers, although the eventual cost can be divided among importers, foreign suppliers, businesses and consumers depending on market conditions.

Ford said he remained supportive of Americans generally, drawing a distinction between the U.S. public and its president.

Trump attacks Ford and tells Canadian leaders to ‘fall in line’

Trump was hardly restrained in return.

In a social-media post Monday, the president mocked Ford’s intelligence and charisma and compared him unfavourably with his late brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford.

Trump also warned Canada’s leaders to “fall in line,” threatening consequences he said would be worse if Canada continued resisting U.S. trade demands.

Ford responded by dismissing Trump’s personal attacks and challenging him to continue.

“Bring it on, buddy,” Ford said.

The exchange represents a marked deterioration from the traditional language between leaders of Canada and the United States, whose economies remain deeply integrated.

The total U.S. goods and services trade with Canada was US$872.3 billion in 2025. Canada sends roughly three-quarters of its goods exports to the United States.

Ford says the United States should ‘feel pain’

Behind the insults was a much more consequential policy message.

Ford said Washington should feel economic consequences if Trump continues targeting Canadian industries.

The premier said Ontario and Canada must be prepared to use every available economic tool rather than respond cautiously while Canadian companies and workers absorb the effect of American tariffs.

Ford saying Canadians understood an economic confrontation could involve sacrifice and were prepared to resist U.S. pressure.

Ford said he supports Carney’s decision to leave the negotiating table rather than accept an agreement Ottawa considered damaging to Canadian sovereignty and major industries.

That support is politically significant.

Ford leads Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government, while Carney leads the federal Liberal government. The two have substantial political differences, but the U.S. trade confrontation has produced a broad Team Canada position among many provincial and federal leaders.

Electricity is back on Ford’s retaliation list

Ford again raised one of Ontario’s most controversial possible retaliatory measures: electricity.

He said Ontario could increase the cost of electricity exported to the United States or potentially stop exports if the trade confrontation intensifies.

“Everything is on the table,” Ford said.

Ford has used electricity as a threat before during the Trump tariff dispute.

Whether such a measure is ultimately implemented would involve legal, regulatory, market and federal-provincial considerations. Electricity trade across the international border is not simply a switch the premier can turn off without wider consequences.

There is also a risk to Ontario.

Electricity exports generate revenue, and interfering with long-standing energy relationships could provoke additional American retaliation.

Ford’s argument, however, is that Canada cannot keep valuable leverage off the table while Washington targets industries fundamental to Ontario’s economy.

Critical minerals bring Northwestern Ontario directly into the fight

This is where Ford’s comments become especially important for Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario.

Ford said Ontario could also use its critical-mineral resources as leverage.

Speaking about restricting those resources, Ford said the United States would not get “a grain of sand out of Ontario.”

That is a remarkable threat because much of Ontario’s future critical-mineral potential is concentrated in the North.

The Ring of Fire, located more than 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, contains deposits of chromite, copper, nickel, platinum and titanium. Northwestern Ontario also hosts significant lithium projects, including deposits in the Red Lake region.

These minerals are used in advanced manufacturing, energy systems, electronics, batteries and defence applications.

The United States considers reliable supplies of critical minerals increasingly important to national security as it attempts to reduce dependence on Chinese-controlled mineral production and processing.

That makes Northern Ontario resources more than a regional mining story. They are becoming part of a continental geopolitical strategy.

What Ford’s threat could mean for First Nations

Any suggestion that Ontario will use Northern minerals as an international bargaining tool also has another dimension.

Many proposed mineral developments and transportation corridors are located in or near the traditional territories of First Nations.

Ontario and Webequie First Nation broke ground in June on the Webequie Supply Road, part of the proposed transportation network intended to connect communities and potential mining operations in the Ring of Fire. The province says development is intended to create economic opportunities for First Nations and Northern Ontario.

Decisions involving critical minerals therefore cannot be viewed only through the lens of Ontario-Washington politics.

First Nations have their own rights, economic interests, environmental concerns and development priorities. Projects will involve questions of consultation, partnership, infrastructure ownership, employment and long-term benefits.

Ford’s comments illustrate how rapidly those resources have become strategically valuable in the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Thunder Bay could become more important in a diversified Canadian economy

A prolonged trade confrontation could also strengthen Ottawa and Queen’s Park’s push to reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States.

For Thunder Bay, that could increase the importance of transportation, mining services, mineral processing and east-west Canadian supply chains.

Ontario has already identified Northern critical minerals as part of a strategy linking mines in the North with manufacturing in Southern Ontario. The province has also supported plans to expand mineral-processing capacity and has pointed to Thunder Bay as a potential location in that supply chain.

The challenge is that diversification takes years.

Businesses dealing with tariffs need answers now.

That is why Ford’s government announced Monday that it is expanding eligibility for the Protect Ontario Financing Program to businesses affected by the newest U.S. tariffs.

The $1-billion program provides loans to qualifying Ontario businesses facing tariff-related cash-flow pressure, including expenses such as payroll, leases and utilities. The province says its broader tariff-relief and support package totals about $30 billion.

The expanded program now includes companies affected by the latest U.S. tariffs as well as businesses already facing sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and automobiles.

Ontario’s auto sector is at the centre of the confrontation

Ford’s anger is also rooted in the particular vulnerability of Ontario manufacturing.

Trump’s latest threat would raise tariffs on Canadian autos, trucks, parts and steel to 50 per cent next year.

Ontario’s auto industry operates as part of a highly integrated North American production system. Components can cross the Canada-U.S. border several times before a finished vehicle reaches a dealership.

That means tariffs can hurt manufacturers on both sides.

Reuters reported Monday that shares of several major automakers fell after Trump’s latest announcement. Canadian auto-parts industry representatives warned that tariffs on Canadian components could disrupt production at U.S. assembly plants because American factories depend on some parts produced in Canada.

Ontario’s government says the province’s steel supply chain alone supports about 16,500 workers, while auto manufacturing and its suppliers support tens of thousands more.

Ford enters U.S. midterm politics

Ford went another step Monday by talking about the coming U.S. midterm elections.

He predicted American voters would punish Trump and the Republican Party and said that, if he were permitted, he would be in the United States knocking on doors.

Those comments move beyond trade policy and into U.S. partisan politics.

That carries potential risks.

A Canadian premier openly cheering for losses by one American political party could make it harder to maintain relationships with U.S. officials if those same politicians remain in office after the election.

Ford’s approach appears to be based on a different calculation: that Trump’s political vulnerability is itself a source of leverage and that economic pressure on U.S. voters and businesses could eventually produce pressure on Washington to change course.

Whether that strategy works remains uncertain.

Ronald Reagan enters Ford’s argument against tariffs

Ford also invoked former Republican president Ronald Reagan.

The Ontario premier has previously used Reagan’s opposition to protectionism in advertisements aimed at American audiences.

On Monday, Ford noted Trump keeps a portrait of Reagan nearby and argued the former president would strongly disapprove of Trump’s tariff policies.

The comparison is politically deliberate.

Rather than portraying the dispute simply as Canada versus Republicans, Ford is trying to argue that Trump’s protectionism conflicts with the free-trade tradition historically associated with parts of the Republican Party.

Canada and the United States signed their original bilateral free-trade agreement in 1988 under prime minister Brian Mulroney and Reagan. That agreement later evolved into the North American Free Trade Agreement and ultimately the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.

The current confrontation is therefore testing an economic relationship built over almost four decades.

The language is colourful, but the stakes are serious

Ford’s “kiss my ass” remark will dominate headlines because it is unusual language for one senior government leader to direct publicly at the president of Canada’s largest trading partner.

But concentrating only on the insult risks missing the more important story.

Ford is signalling that Ontario’s approach has changed.

The premier is no longer simply urging Washington to withdraw tariffs or encouraging negotiation. He is openly advocating economic retaliation intended to create political and financial consequences inside the United States.

Electricity is potentially part of that strategy.

Critical minerals are potentially part of that strategy.

And Northwestern Ontario sits directly inside the critical-minerals equation.

At the same time, Ford’s threats remain threats. No cutoff of Ontario critical minerals or electricity was announced Monday, and the practical authority and economic consequences surrounding either measure would require considerably more detail.

Canada and the United States remain extraordinarily dependent on each other.

That means an escalating trade war could create leverage — but it can also create substantial damage on both sides of the border.

For Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, the question to watch is whether the growing confrontation accelerates investment in Canadian-controlled transportation, processing and mineral supply chains, or whether trade uncertainty begins delaying investment and weakening demand.

Ford made his position unmistakable Monday: he believes Canada has reached the point where it must be willing to impose costs on the United States rather than absorb them quietly.

The next question is how much of that rhetoric becomes policy.