Doug Ford ‘got carried away’ trading insults with Donald Trump, promises ‘different approach’

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for a truce in his war of words with President Donald Trump but backed Canada’s plan to retaliate against fresh U.S. tariffs.

“Things got a little heated, Joe, yesterday between both of us. He was throwing insults,” Ford told host Joe Mathieu on Bloomberg Television. “And I hit back. But I think it’d be more productive if the prime minister and the president sit down and have a fair deal for everyone.”

The U.S. imposed 50 per cent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian products Saturday after trade talks collapsed, prompting Prime Minister Mark Carney to announce hours later that Canada will impose counter-tariffs. So Trump threatened on Monday to double tariffs on Canadian autos to 50 per cent.

Upon hearing that, Ford told a radio host that the president could “kiss my ass as far as I’m concerned.”

Following those comments, Trump directed personal insults at Ford, calling him a “flunky,” and later said the U.S. would consider renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America.

The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

( TS: Aug 25 2026, 6:58 AM ET )… pic.twitter.com/X5TxYS8TaV

— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) August 25, 2026

“It got carried away. And I’m not innocent by any means,” Ford said. “But I’m going to take a different approach. I’m going to move forward.”

Earlier Tuesday, Canada announced a plan to double its existing counter-tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum items to 50 per cent. American-produced milk, furniture, clothing and apparel will also have new duties applied, as will video-game consoles, electronics and a host of other products.

Ford said he wasn’t opposed to further retaliation if necessary, but stopped short of endorsing cutting off electricity to the U.S.

“I wouldn’t say cut it off, but surcharges for sure,” he said, adding that he’d prefer to send more electricity to the U.S. instead.

In 2025, in the early weeks of the trade war, the premier added a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity sent to three U.S. states for one day before reversing the decision so trade talks could continue.

Ford leads Canada’s most populous province and has become a central figure in the trade war. As the country’s manufacturing heartland, Ontario has been heavily affected by U.S. economic aggression. The province’s liquor agency is one of the world’s largest alcohol buyers, and Ford was among the first provincial premiers to remove U.S. booze from shelves.

The premier’s combative style has repeatedly caused friction with the Trump administration — most notably when the president pulled the plug on talks last year after Ontario ran an anti-tariff ad in the U.S.

But Ford is not alone in backing a confrontational approach.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said he was eager to discuss non-tariff measures, pointing to Canada’s contract to buy F-35 fighter jets from U.S.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. Carney launched a review of the procurement shortly after taking office in March 2025.

“When you get kicked in the back by your friend, you don’t turn around and buy $12 billion of fighter jets from that friend,” Eby said on BNN Bloomberg Television.

If the U.S. escalates further, as it has threatened to do, Eby said he’d support stronger countermeasures in kind. He said thermal coal from the U.S. is shipped out of a B.C. port, for example, as there are no options on the U.S. west coast. “It’s areas like this that the prime minister should be looking at, that I’m encouraging him to look at,” Eby said.

Eby also backed the use of B.C.’s natural resource or energy exports as leverage if needed, if it was done in a coordinated way nationally, and British Columbians “were protected in such a scenario.”

The trade war is “unfortunate,” he added. “I think it hurts everybody. It definitely hurts Canadians more. But not as much as becoming subject to the United States, the 51st state in all but name. That’s just not going to happen on any of our watches, and the prime minister’s right to push back.”

— With assistance from Joe Mathieu.