Why personalized government doesn’t work
By 
President Trump said late Thursday he was terminating trade negotiations with Canada, pointing to a television advertisement sponsored by the Ontario government that features Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs.
“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post shortly before 11 p.m.
The president claimed that Canada “fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs.” Trump argued the ad was designed to interfere with the Supreme Court and other courts as they weigh the legality of his far-reaching tariffs.
The threat to cut off negotiations is just the latest in a series of trade disputes between the U.S. and Canada—a monthslong saga that has seen Trump threaten to cut off talks before but eventually relenting after concessions from Ottawa. It comes two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Trump at the White House. While there were some signs of progress, no concrete agreement was announced.
Carney told reporters Friday that Canada stood ready to resume trade talks with the U.S. and build on recent progress to settle a dispute over tariffs that Trump levied on several sectors important to the Canadian economy.
“For months we have stressed the importance of distinguishing the things we can control and the things we can’t control. We can’t control the trade policies of the U.S.,” Carney said.
Hey, does anyone remember “MAJOR QUESTIONS” doctrine? Seems like it might be relevant to threatening to tip the country into recession because you don’t like an ad run by a provinical government that accurately quotes a president.