Ontario Premier Doug Ford made a series of appearances on U.S. television on Tuesday where he conceded that it is time to turn down the temperature after “things got a little heated” and a “little personal” with U.S. President Donald Trump one day prior.
Ford joined CNN, Fox Business and ABC for interviews in which he appeared to tone down his rhetoric, one day after he called Trump a “loser,” a “dictator” and the “king of bankruptcies” during a press conference in Hamilton.
The war of words between Trump and Ford erupted after the premier appeared on The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll in Ottawa and said that Trump could “kiss my ass.”
Trump, for his part, called Ford the “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford” in a post on Truth Social.
“I think so. Things got a little heated, it got a little personal yesterday between the president and myself but I want to make a deal, a good deal for the American people and a good deal for the Canadians,” Ford said when asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer whether it was time to turn down the temperature in his war of words with Trump. “It’s time to get back to the table and let’s negotiate a fair deal because it is hurting the U.S., it is hurting Canada.”
Ford says comments didn’t go too far
Ford’s personal attacks directed at Trump on Monday came after he was asked to respond to Trump’s Truth Social post, in which the U.S. President also referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Ontario premier as “Governor Carney and his flunky, Ford.”
Trump appeared to set his eyes on Ontario again on Tuesday morning, saying in another Truth Social post that the U.S. was “giving serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America since “we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
While Ford did appear to move away from personal criticism of Trump during his televised appearances, he may not be walking back Monday’s rhetoric entirely.
Leaving his office at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, Ford was asked whether he went too far and replied “not at all.”
Ford did not take further questions from reporters.
In his appearance on CNN, Ford said that its “time to get back to the table” and negotiate “a fair deal” to end the trade war with the U.S.
He then called Trump’s threats to stop doing business with Ontario “a lot of rhetoric,” noting that the province is America’s third largest trading partner globally.
“I do not understand why he wants to attack Canada non-stop. We are their closest friends and allies,” he said. “And make no mistake about it: Canadians still love the American people, they love the U.S. They don’t see eye-to-eye with the president by any means but they love the American people and I do as well.”
In a subsequent appearance on Fox Business, Ford sounded a similar tone, admitting again that “things got a little heated” between him and Trump.
Ford, however, pointed out that Trump is “famous for attacking Canadian sovereignty.”
“I feel bad for the autoworkers of Michigan, Ohio, Texas and Kentucky that are going to lose their jobs because we buy 400 per cent more autos (from the U.S.) than any country in the entire world,” he said.
Ford’s appearances on Tuesday came ahead of a news conference where federal officials detailed counter tariffs on 700 different American products.
Federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked during that press conference whether anyone in the federal government asked Ford to tone down his rhetoric.
However, he told reporters that he has learned “not to comment on every remark that is being made on either side of the border.”
“My job, our job here this morning is to fight for Canada, is to fight for workers, is to fight for industries, is to bring the support to make sure we give them a bridge when we have more stability in our economy and certainty in specific sectors affected by the U.S. tariffs,” he said. “That is what Canadians are expecting from us.”
