Doug Ford reflects on heated exchanges with Donald Trump
· Toronto Sun
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A significantly calmer Ontario Premier Doug Ford made an appearance on American television on Tuesday.
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Ford and United States President Donald Trump exchanged heated words on Monday amid the growing unease on both sides of the border after trade negotiations between the two nations stalled on Friday night.
“Both things got a little heated,” Ford said on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday morning. “It got a little personal (Monday) between the president and myself, but I want to make a good deal for the American people, good deal for the Canadians.”
On Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social that Ford was a “flunky” to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and said he was the “unimpressive brother” to the now-deceased ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford. Ford responded by calling Trump a “loser,” a “dictator” and the “king of bankruptcies,” among other things.
‘Lake America’
But Tuesday brought a less animated premier, even when Trump posted a comment on Truth Social, the president considering a name change from Lake Ontario to Lake America, in that Trump doesn’t expect to do much business with the province any longer.
“I think it’s a lot of rhetoric because we’re the No. 1 customer to 17 states, and No. 2 to 12 others,” Ford told Blitzer. “… I feel that we need to get back to the table and build the, as I always say, Fortress North America. We’re stronger working together, rather than attacking each other. It just doesn’t make sense.”
According to the BBC, 70,000 Canadians have signed an online petition calling for the U.S. ambassador to be expelled for undermining diplomatic relations between the two countries. The BBC said the woman who started the petition is from Calgary.
“I don’t agree with expelling any American diplomats, especially the ambassador,” Ford said. “He has a job and a role to play. I understand that, and I don’t believe in that, whatsoever. Let’s try to work out a deal, and that’s what we need to do.”
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