Ontario Premier Doug Ford folded like a cheap suit after threatening to cut off electrical power to Americans, walking back his tough talk after President Donald J. Trump vowed a costly response as the battle over tariffs took a nasty turn.
Ford, the brother of notorious crack-smoking ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford, has seemingly decided that picking a fight with Trump would do wonders for his political creds and announced that his country would move forward with a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to New York, Minnesota and Michigan, all of which share a border with Canada.
Then, in a shocking escalation, the left-wing blowhard said that he would go so far as to shut down electricity altogether, inflicting a severe punishment on families and businesses in the areas that are dependent on the nation’s northern neighbor for power.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford warns: “If the US escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely.”
Canada is now openly threatening to cut power to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/o8G3iGmUt7
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 11, 2025
“If the United States escalates, I will not hesitate to shut the electricity off completely,” he told reporters at a press conference. “Believe me when I say I do not want to do this. I feel terrible for the American people because it’s not the American people who started this trade war. It’s one person who’s responsible. That’s President Trump.”
Ford quickly learned that if you mess with the bull, you get the horns.
In a lengthy post to Truth Social, Trump vowed to retaliate if Ford jacked up power prices for Americans, promising to increase tariffs and crush Canada’s auto industry.
“Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on “Electricity” coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th. Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous. I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada. If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada. Those cars can easily be made in the USA!” Trump wrote.
In another post, Trump questioned the wisdom behind the decision-making process that made Americans dependent on Canada for power.
“Why would our Country allow another Country to supply us with electricity, even for a small area? Who made these decisions, and why? And can you imagine Canada stooping so low as to use ELECTRICITY, that so affects the life of innocent people, as a bargaining chip and threat? They will pay a financial price for this so big that it will be read about in History Books for many years to come!” Trump wrote.
That got the premier’s attention, and he promptly bent the knee, announcing on X that Ontario would suspend the electrical surcharge after a “productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada” with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
.@POTUS announces that Ontario Premier Doug Ford will NOT be charging a surcharge on electricity to the U.S.:
“He has called, and he said he’s not going to do that… it would’ve been a very bad thing if he did, and he’s not going to do that, so I respect that.” pic.twitter.com/dKtLQSHP2H
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 11, 2025
Ford also apologized to the American people, pledging that the economic issues over tariffs would be settled, and called for an end to the “chaos” in order to save “millions of jobs.”
“I want to apologize to the American people. I spent 20 years of my life in the US, in New Jersey, in Chicago. I love the American people. I absolutely love them,” the Ontario premier told “Cats and Cosby” hosts John Catsimitides and Rita Cosby during an interview on WABC, according to the New York Post.
“We’re going to get through this. We’re stronger together. We’ll always be united,” Ford said, adding, “Secretary Lutnick and President Trump are brilliant businesspeople. They are hard negotiators. We need to put this behind us and move forward and build the two strongest countries in the world.”
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.