What the Ronald Reagan ad that made Trump so angry was actually about

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President Donald Trump has canceled trade negotiations with Canada on what he called a “fake” ad that featured parts of an anti-tariff speech given by conservative hero and former president Ronald Reagan. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute also said the ad misrepresented the former president’s words.

It wasn’t wrong. It has been edited. But Reagan actually passed five minute speech — a national radio address from April 25, 1987 that the Reagan Library published on YouTube — a protest against customs tariffs. It was an unqualified expression of support for free and fair trade.

THE announcementpurchased by the Ontario government and broadcast on major American television networks, broadcast excerpts of the speech delivered from Camp David, where Reagan was soon to meet with the prime minister of Japan at a time when American attitudes toward Japan were hardening. In the recent past, Japanese companies like Toyota and Sony have flooded the U.S. market with high-quality but cheap cars and electronics, hurting the business of major U.S. brands including General Motors and RCA.

Watch the Anti-Tariff Ad Featuring Former US President Reagan

Watch the Anti-Tariff Ad Featuring Former US President Reagan

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Shortly before delivering his radio speech, Reagan imposed higher tariffs on various Japanese products in retaliation for the influx of cheap Japanese semiconductors into America. He had harsh words for Japan – not included in the ad – criticizing it in terms that resemble Trump’s frequent trade missives.

“We had clear evidence that Japanese companies were engaging in unfair trade practices that violated an agreement between Japan and the United States,” Reagan said. “We expect our business partners to honor their agreements.”

Reagan said he would only remove tariffs when there was evidence that Japan was treating American businesses and workers fairly — which also appears to follow one of Trump’s guidelines.

But Reagan was clear: he was “reluctant” to impose trade barriers on Japan and believed that high tariffs were harmful to American workers and the economy. He noted that economists are largely convinced that countries’ high tariffs The Smoot-Hawley era had exacerbated the Great Depression, which he and others of his generation lived through – a painful memory that he said remained “deep and burning.”

The gist of Reagan’s speech – and the part most heavily advertised – was his description of why advanced economies had largely abandoned tariffs as an economic tool by the time he became president: they increase the dependence of domestic businesses on government intervention, they reduce competition, they trigger trade wars that lead to more tariffs, they increase price and, in the end, they lead to job losses.

Reagan then criticizes the Democratic-controlled Congress for proposing legislation that could impose more trade barriers on other countries. And despite “some specific cases, like Japanese semiconductors,” Reagan said his administration had embraced free trade.

It’s unclear why Trump called the ad “fake,” but his Truth on social media included a critical message about the ad put online by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He said the ad campaign used “selective audio and video recordings of President Ronald Reagan” and “misrepresents the presidential speech on radio.” The foundation did not say what it considered to be misrepresented.

In a separate post on Truth Social On Monday, Trump falsely said Reagan supported tariffs.

“They fraudulently accepted a big ad saying Ronald Reagan didn’t like tariffs, when in reality he liked tariffs for our country and its national security,” Trump posted. “Thank you to the Ronald Reagan Foundation for exposing this FRAUD.”

The Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute also claimed that the Ontario government did not seek permission to use or edit Reagan’s speech, although it was not clear that the law required it to do so. The foundation said it was reviewing its legal options and encouraged people to watch the unpublished speech.

The ad aired several times during high-profile events, including during the American League Championship Series featuring the Toronto Blue Jays. Starting Friday evening, the Ontario-based team will compete in the World Series – a great source of national pride for Canadians.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford in a speech On October 14, he said his administration placed the ad on virtually every major U.S. network because it wanted to “take the words of Ronald Reagan and deliver them to the American people.”

“This ad is not a bad ad,” Ford said. “It’s very factual. And coming from a person like Ronald Reagan, every Republican is going to identify that voice.”

“He was simply the best president America has ever had, in my opinion,” said Ford, a conservative politician.