The leader of Canada’s biggest economy is ripping up a deal with ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk as the country continues to try and fight back against Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, home to both Canada’s capital of Ottawa and largest city in Toronto.
He has been one of the most fearsome fighters against Trump’s tariff war with Canada which officially went into effect after midnight on Tuesday.
Ford – who also threatened to cut off energy to the United States – launched into an attack on Musk, canceling the company’s $100million CAN ($68million US) contract with Starlink satellite internet provider.
‘It’s done, it’s gone. We won’t award contracts to people who enable and encourage economic attacks on our province and our country,’ Ford said.
He went even further, attacking Queen’s University in Kingston, saying they should be ’embarrassed’ that Musk attended the school.
Ford, a member of the country’s ‘Tory’ party which opposes Prime Minister Trudeau’s liberals, said of the decision: ‘They only have President Trump to blame.’
The Premier added that this didn’t need to happen.
Doug Ford is the Premier of Ontario, home to both Canada’s capital of Ottawa and largest city in Toronto
He has been one of the most fearsome fighters against Trump’s tariff war with Canada which officially went into effect after midnight on Tuesday. Ford launched into an attack on Musk, canceling the company’s $100million CAN ($68million US) contract with Starlink satellite internet provider
‘We could have poured our efforts into making Canada and the U.S. the two richest, most successful, safest, most secure two countries on the planet. Unfortunately, one man – President Trump – has chosen chaos instead.’
Ford – who called a snap election at the provincial level and claimed a mandate from the results – said that he’s prepared to dig in his heels for as long as Trump is willing to go on with the tariffs.
‘We also need to be ready to dig in for a long fight. We need to be ready to escalate using every tool in our tool kit.’
Later in the day, he spoke to NewsNation, where he said he wanted Americans ‘to feel pain.’
‘[Trump] wants to close down manufacturing plants in Ontario. He wants to annihilate Canadian state food off their table until they can’t pay their mortgages. Unacceptable.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to SpaceX, the White House and the Prime Minister of Canada’s office for comment.
Ford has emerged as somewhat of an interloper in the trade war which has largely been fought by Trump and Trudeau.
Since he was reelected president in November, Trump has started referring to Trudeau as a ‘governor’ of Canada that could soon become the ’51st state’ of the United States of America.
Ford, a member of the country’s ‘Tory’ party which opposes Prime Minister Trudeau’s liberals, said of the decision: ‘They only have President Trump to blame’
Ford has emerged as somewhat of an interloper in the trade war which has largely been fought by Trump and Trudeau
Trudeau was deeply disturbed by the news of Trump’s intent to level a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods imported into the United States, describing the decision as ‘dumb.’
He announced that Canada would begin implementing 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion of American goods, starting with $30 billion worth of products immediately.
‘This is a time to hit back hard and to demonstrate that a fight with Canada will have no winners,’ he said.
The United States imported $412 billion worth of goods from Canada in 2024, according to the US Census Bureau.
Trump has argued that the trade deficit with Canada demonstrates that the United States deserves to level more tariffs on their imported goods.
The president warned Trudeau Tuesday that the United States was willing to level additional tariffs on their country’s economy.
‘Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!’ Trump warned on social media.
‘We subsidize them $200 billion a year. Without us, Canada can’t make it,’ Trump said during a cabinet meeting last week. ‘You know, Canada relies on us 95 percent. We rely on them 4 percent. Big difference.’
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House
Trudeau veered between anger, frustration, defiance and sadness during his extended press conference in Ottawa.
‘We’re insulted, we’re angry, but we’re Canadian, which means we’re gonna stand up for each other, we’re gonna fight…and we’re gonna win,’ he declared.
Trump has suggested that Canada should join the United States if they want to escape the tariffs.
‘I say Canada should be our 51st state. There’s no tariffs, no nothing,’ he said last week.
Trump also argues that since the United States pays largely for Canada’s military security, the country should also pay more in tariffs.
‘We protect Canada. But it’s not fair. It’s not fair that they’re not paying their way. And if they had to pay their way, they couldn’t exist,’ he said.
Canadians continue exploring ways to make the United States suffer as a result of the tariffs.
Ford confirmed he was looking into cutting off Canadian energy from America.
Trudeau, who will leave office at some point this year after announcing he will not seek re-election, confirmed his country will fight fire with fire
Trump used his Truth Social account to say that drugs were ‘still pouring into’ the U.S.
‘They rely on our energy, they need to feel the pain. They want to come at us hard, we’re going to come back twice as hard,’ Ontario Premier Doug Ford said at a press conference.
Ontario exports electricity to American border states like New York, Michigan, and Minnesota.
The tariff news triggered a sharp selloff on Wall Street Tuesday as the Dow fell over 500 points.
Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that Trump would continue to negotiate with Canada as the tariffs went into effect, suggesting that they could get relief if they prevented fentanyl from crossing into the United States.
‘We need to see real engagement on the fentanyl issue, on the drug issue, that is fundamentally the underlying element of these tariffs, is we think the Canadians have not been serious about struck stopping the drug trade,’ Vance said.
President Trump will address the United States Congress on Tuesday night, previewing that will not shy away from controversial topics.
‘TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE BIG. I WILL TELL IT LIKE IT IS,’ he wrote in all-caps on social media on Monday.