Analysis: Escalation will test Trump and Carney’s relationship

Trump turning once again on America’s closest ally Canada just proves how flippant his trade decisions are.

The smooth-talking confidence of Prime Minister Mark Carney persuaded Canadians to vote for him in this year’s election.

He certainly ran on a pitch to stand up to Trump, but his recent dealings with the US president have largely been diplomatic and cordial.

Carney was last in the Oval Office just over two weeks ago, and the pair laughed off Trump’s obsession with Canada becoming the “51st state”.

But now it’s a single advert from the government of Ontario that has triggered Trump to pause all trade talks between the two, calling its anti-tariff stance “egregious” on his social media platform Truth Social.

The advert uses Ronald Reagan’s voice to attack tariff policy – arguing trade barriers “hurt every American worker and consumer… markets shrink, and collapse, businesses and industries shut down and millions of people lose their jobs”.

But now, the Ronald Reagan Foundation has said the ad “misrepresents” his words – and they did not give their permission to use it.

Mere hours before Trump’s post, Carney was prodding Trump jokingly to bet on the outcome of the baseball World Series.

Given this latest escalation by the President tonight, their next interaction will be far from a laughing matter.