(MENAFN- Live Mint) Donald Trump hit out at Canada for“dirty play” over an advertisement that Ontario decided to pause on Monday. This followed a row over the United States President's claim that it misquoted former president Ronald Reagan as opposing tariffs, prompting Trump to cease all trade talks with the neighbouring country.

"Canada got caught cheating on a commercial, can you believe it? And I heard they were pulling the ad -- I didn't know they were putting it on a little bit more. They could have pulled it tonight," Trump said, according to AFP. When a reporter stated that the ad would be withdrawn on Monday, he responded, "That's dirty play. But I can play dirtier than they can."

“What they did was terrible. They made a fake statement by President Reagan. Reagan was a big supporter of tariffs when needed and we need tariffs for national security. And then totally turned it around because they are getting hurt by the tariffs. They have used the tariffs on us but we had different presidents very successfully in there taking lot of money out our country now would take at all back,” Trump said while speaking with press on Air Force One, according to Russia Today. He added, "The Reagan Foundation went crazy when they saw this because it was opposite of what Reagan liked tariffs and when necessary he would use tariffs. It made us very rich country.

Trump's 'all trade negotiations terminated' announcement

On Truth Social, Trump stated“The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts.”

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He asserted,“TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT.”

Also Read | Trump accuses Canada of trying to influence US Supreme Court 'Ontario will pause ad campaign so that trade talks can resume'

On Friday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced that, following a conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the ad campaign would pause starting Monday“so that trade talks can resume”, although it will continue to air during MLB's World Series games over the weekend, a report by CNN noted.

Ford took to X and said,“Our intention was always to initiate a conversation about the kind of economy that Americans want to build and the impact of tariffs on workers and businesses. We've achieved our goal, having reached U.S. audiences at the highest levels. I've directed my team to keep putting our message in front of Americans over the weekend so that we can air our commercial during the first two World Series games. In speaking with Prime Minister Carney, Ontario will pause its U.S. advertising campaign effective Monday so that trade talks can resume.”

Meanwhile, as per ANI report, when reporters asked if he planned to meet with PM Mark Carney, who will also be in Asia, Trump responded,“No, I don't have any plan to.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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