Ontario Premier Doug Ford spent roughly 45 minutes at a Monday news conference tearing into U.S. President Donald Trump, calling him a “dictator,” a “bully,” a “loser” and the “king of bankruptcies,” and telling him at one point he could “kiss my ass.” It was the sharpest personal exchange yet between a senior Canadian official and Trump since trade talks between the two countries broke down late last week.
The confrontation began earlier Monday when Trump, posting on Truth Social, dismissed Ford as a blustering “flunky.” Asked about the post at his press conference, Ford didn’t hold back. “I don’t respond to a dictator like President Trump, a bully like President Trump,” he said, adding, “I’m not gonna take any advice off a guy that’s the king of bankruptcies.” Trump’s companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times since the 1990s, mostly tied to his Atlantic City casino ventures.
The war of words lands in the middle of an already escalating economic standoff. Canada-U.S. trade negotiations collapsed late Friday after the U.S. introduced new demands Ottawa said it could not accept, clearing the way for a 50 percent U.S. tariff on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised a dollar-for-dollar Canadian response, targeting U.S. steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, effective September 8 — though Ottawa has not yet released the specific tariff lines.
Ford’s province carries some of the heaviest exposure in the dispute. Ontario is home to the bulk of Canada’s auto manufacturing sector, which has already absorbed months of tariff uncertainty, and the premier has positioned himself throughout the trade fight as one of the loudest provincial voices pushing back against Washington, including past threats to cut electricity exports to U.S. states.
Monday’s exchange was notable less for the underlying trade dispute, which has been building for months, than for how personal the rhetoric has become. Where earlier statements from Canadian officials stuck largely to policy language about tariffs and retaliation, Ford’s comments — captured live and quickly clipped across social media — marked a shift toward the kind of direct, insult-driven exchange more commonly associated with Trump’s own communication style. Asked whether he was concerned about further inflaming tensions, Ford doubled down rather than walking back his comments.
The White House had not issued a formal response to Ford’s remarks as of Monday evening. It remains unclear whether Trump will address the exchange directly, as he has with other Canadian officials during the trade dispute, or whether the sharpened rhetoric will affect the still-undefined details of Canada’s September 8 retaliatory tariffs.
With files from CBC News, CTV News, CP24 and Global News.
