Ontario Premier Doug Ford stunned audiences this week when he threatened to punish American families in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s move to fix decades of trade imbalance and border failures. Ford made clear that his goal isn’t to solve the problem — it’s to make Americans pay.
At a press conference in Toronto, Ford said, “We’re going to make sure that we inflict as much pain as possible to the American people without inflicting pain on the Canadian population.” The remark came just hours after Trump announced a 25% tariff on foreign-made cars, including those coming from Canada.
Holy Shit! Doug Ford just said it's his goal to inflict as much pain as possible on the American people.
This is absolutely insane. pic.twitter.com/lvcTF6BLFw
— govt.exe is corrupt (@govt_corrupt) March 27, 2025
Instead of engaging with the Trump administration on border security or fair trade, Ford doubled down on confrontation. He said he was blindsided by the tariff and vowed to rally Canadian officials and auto leaders to respond forcefully.
Ford told reporters he would meet with all Canadian premiers and top executives in the auto sector to coordinate retaliation. He said he wants to take a “Team Canada” approach and urged the federal government to target American auto exports.
Ford attempted to deflect blame by claiming Trump was the one hurting Americans. “I feel terrible for the American people, but it’s one person, it’s President Trump that’s creating this chaos,” he said.
He also ridiculed Trump’s famous line from “The Apprentice,” saying, “I know President Trump likes telling people ‘you’re fired.’ I didn’t think he meant auto workers in the U.S. when he said that.”
The premier is also considering a retaliatory tax on electricity exported to the U.S., but said he’ll wait until April 2 to see how events unfold. He emphasized that any action should avoid damaging Canada internally.
Ford’s aggressive language comes despite Canada’s much smaller economic footprint and dependence on access to the American market. His comments have raised questions about how far the Canadian government is willing to go in risking its relationship with the U.S. over trade.
