Dressing up as Donald Trump used to be hilarious for Halloween, say Canadian businesses that rent or sell costumes, but they say hardly anyone is finding the joke funny in 2025.
“Certainly I haven’t set up somebody dressing up like Trump in a very long time,” says Christy Greenwood, owner of Theatre Garage in Edmonton.
“And I think a lot of it very much has to do with the rhetoric of the 51st state.”
h/t patthedog
TOKYO — President Trump announced Toyota has promised $10 billion in investments toward new manufacturing plants in the US — urging people to “go out and buy a Toyota” in a wide-ranging speech to sailors aboard the USS George Washington Tuesday in Tokyo Bay.
Trump, who is making trade and economic deals a top goal of his three-nation regional tour, said that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told him earlier in the day that the world’s largest car company would pour funds into American manufacturing plants.
“I was just told by the prime minister that Toyota is going to be putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of $10 billion. So that’s Toyota — so go out and buy a Toyota,” Trump said aboard the 4.5-acre nuclear-powered ship.
Remember when Toyota walked back it’s comments on “Adjustments” back in July …
… That statement is contrasted by messaging from Toyota earlier this week. Scott Mackenzie, director of corporate and external affairs for Toyota, reportedly told the Globe and Mail that, if potential trade deals fail to remove the auto tariffs, Toyota could be forced to make “adjustments” in Ontario manufacturing.
The question of whether or not the prime minister and his chief of staff saw and approved — either directly or tacitly — an Ontario government anti-tariff ad that set off U.S. President Donald Trump followed Mark Carney to Singapore on Tuesday.
The Prime Minister’s Office said there would be no further comment on the television ad, which last week led to the meltdown of sectoral trade negotiations with the United States.
Dougie says you lie Carney!
Doug Ford claims Mark Carney and Liberal chief of staff saw the Ontario Ronald Regan Ad prior to being in air.
Everyone agreed to move forward on it airing. pic.twitter.com/2FVgyyVosI
— TheRealMrBench (@therealmrbench) October 27, 2025
Ford may have have been lead to believe Carney had no objection to the ad when it was in fact Carney’s desire to use it to scupper any possible deal with Trump or he simply didn’t find it a provocation which makes him dim like Ford.
To see these actions as a hissy fit prompts an Oh my God, what can we do to make it right? reaction; a scramble to get him back to the table. Which is exactly what he wants.
Instead, we should see what has happened as a textbook example of his negotiation strategy.
Canadian officials may have said they were caught off guard last week when U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was cutting off trade negotiations with Canada over Ontario’s anti-tariff advertisement, but sources say Premier Doug Ford’s bad cop act— and tough words for Trump — has been an irritant.
Two sources with knowledge of the talks said the Americans had warned Canadians “for months” that the Ontario premier’s comments were troubling to the Trump administration.
CBC News is not naming the sources because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the trade negotiations.
Doug Ford claims Mark Carney and Liberal chief of staff saw the Ontario Ronald Regan Ad prior to being in air.
Everyone agreed to move forward on it airing. pic.twitter.com/2FVgyyVosI
— TheRealMrBench (@therealmrbench) October 27, 2025
h/t Mauser
It looks like the Canadian side was caught flat-footed with U.S. President Donald Trump’s blow-ups last week – terminating the trade talks and then suddenly adding new 10-per-cent duties.
Then on Monday Mr. Trump said he did not even want to see Prime Minister Mark Carney. “I’m not going to be meeting with him for a long time,” Mr. Trump said.
So, where should the Carney team go from here?
Start blaming Mike Harris!
The United States and President Donald Trump are clearly frustrated with Canada’s handling of trade negotiations involving softwood lumber, automotive parts, oil, aluminum and steel.
Whether Ontario’s anti-tariff advertising campaign — funded by the Doug Ford government — is the direct reason Washington raised tariffs from 35% to 45% on non-Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement imports is beside the point. What matters is the escalation reflects a deteriorating diplomatic climate that will have very real consequences for Canadian agri-food exporters.
Doug Ford has no regrets about ‘viral’ Reagan ad that angered Donald Trump
An unrepentant Premier Doug Ford says he has no regrets about Ontario’s anti-tariff advertising blitz that derailed Canada’s trade talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
While Ontario has paused the $75 million campaign, featuring former president Ronald Reagan, after Ford spoke with Prime Minister Mark Carney, the premier insisted Monday it was effective.
KUALA LUMPUR — U.S. President Donald Trump has ruled out a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week while the pair are both in Asia.
Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force 1 today en route to Japan, saying he won’t be meeting with Carney “for a long time.”
He also says he doesn’t know when the new tariffs on Canada will come into effect.
While MANY Countries are celebrating their massive deals with the United States, Canada, due to actions of their own, will be ignored.
President Trump stating again that he doesn’t even meet with Mark CARNEY for a while pic.twitter.com/kWEHmzQ8W1
— Melissa (@MelissaLMRogers) October 27, 2025
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Sunday that trade flows are likely to shift away from the United States “for a period of time” following President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a new 10 percent tariff on Canadian goods, saying the hike will make it “more expensive to trade with the United States.”
Carney’s comments were his first public reaction since Trump announced the tariff increase on Saturday, escalating tensions between two of the world’s largest trading partners.
The announcement means the general tariff on Canada is now up to 45 percent, but it is not yet certain when the increase will go into effect.
Um, the trademark Carney word salad regurgitation. To be clear. https://t.co/84yCgkXyyA
— RMC86 (@RMC19861987) October 26, 2025
Warren Shepell had an unsettling experience this month when boarding his flight from Cleveland heading home to Toronto.
Just before getting on the plane, he says two uniformed officers approached him on the boarding ramp (Jetway), and one took his photo.
“I was aghast. I felt ambushed,” said Shepell, a noted Canadian psychologist.
Canada’s strategy for dealing with President Trump was on full display this weekend, reinforcing the country’s approach amid a turbulent trade relationship: Remove all irritants.
The latest tussle involved an advertisement, paid for by the Ontario government, that used audio from an address by former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
Mr. Trump, who called the advertisement “fraudulent,” suspended trade talks with Canada and said he would slap another 10 percent tariff on its goods as punishment.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he wants to take auto manufacturing out of Canada and bring it back to the United States. Now, the head of the Business Council of Canada says the country may need to consider letting him do it.
“What we’ve built here is working, but we have to hear what is being said,” Goldy Hyder said. “We want to shoot the messenger, but we are in the world we’re in and I can tell you this much – from a business perspective, in the world that we’re in – no agreement is not an alternative.”
“I respect the fact that our auto companies are making the case that in fact, this is good – that the model works, what we’ve built here is working – but we have to hear what is being said,” he added.
Basically – Focus on what we can reasonably save i.e. parts manufacture.
What we witnessed this week from Doug Ford and Wab Kinew wasn’t leadership. It was political theatre that cost Canadians jobs, credibility, and common sense.
Ontario’s premier decided it was a good idea to spend over $75 million of taxpayer money on a television commercial featuring a manipulated video of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The goal, apparently, was to take a stand against American tariffs and score political points with Canadian voters by pretending to channel Reagan’s words.
(Incognito)
A new rule may be emerging in Canada-U.S. relations — it’s a risky business, mixing politics and baseball.
Prime Minister Mark Carney admitted this week that he had no luck so far tempting Donald Trump into placing a wager on the World Series. Grinning ear to ear as he stopped by the Blue Jays practice on Thursday, Carney said: “I think he’s afraid to make a bet. He doesn’t like to lose. He hasn’t returned my call yet on the bet.”
Over? But its worked so well so far!
