Trump raises tariffs on Canada 10% after Reagan ad airs during World Series
Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced he’s adding an extra 10% tariff on Canadian imports over a negative TV commercial featuring a speech by President Ronald Reagan.
Officials in the province of Ontario have said the ad, which protests Trump’s tariff policy, will be pulled from the airwaves next week. However, Trump said in a social media post that given the ad was played during Game 1 of the World Series Friday night, he is increasing duties on Canadian goods.
The ad was played again during Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night.
“Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform.
Earlier this week, Trump said he was halting trade talks with Canada over the ad, which launched earlier this month.
The ad features audio with excerpts of a 1987 address by Reagan that came as he imposed some duties on Japanese products but cautioned about the long-term economic risks of high tariffs and the threat of a trade war.
Trump claimed, without evidence, that the ad “was Canada’s hope that the United States Supreme Court will come to their ‘rescue’ on Tariffs that they have used for years to hurt the United States.”
The Supreme Court is set to hear a case this term about Trump’s sweeping tariff policy.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday he was halting the ads so that trade talks could resume but noted that it would air during the World Series.
Dominic Leblanc, the Canadian minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, appeared to respond to the ad campaign in a statement released on Saturday, saying in part that “progress is best achieved through direct engagement with the U.S. administration — which is the responsibility of the federal government.”
“As the Prime Minister said [Friday], we stand ready to build on the progress made in constructive discussions with American counterparts over the course of recent weeks,” Leblanc said.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute said in a statement on social media Thursday evening that the Canadian ad campaign used “selective audio and video” of Reagan and “misrepresents” what he said in the address.
The foundation said in a statement that it was exploring its legal options.
(NEW YORK) — One year out from the 2026 midterms, major Democratic Party names have been taking the show on the road, saying that they’re helping the party lay the groundwork to battle for the U.S. House.
They also might be preparing to run for president.
ABC News has tracked at least 24 visits by Democratic presidential hopefuls to the campaign trail in the key 2025 elections that Democrats swept — New Jersey and Virginia’s gubernatorial races, New York City’s mayoral election, and California’s redistricting ballot proposition election.
Separately, ABC News has tracked at least 43 visits or planned visits so far in 2025 and 2026 by Democratic presidential hopefuls to key early or battleground presidential election states. Some of those states are also expected to be key House battlegrounds in 2026.
The early and battleground state count excludes if the state is their home state and does not count multiple visits by the same candidate.
“Anybody who’s looking at the 2028 cycle is starting to head out on the road … Putting an emphasis on states that could determine control of the House is your best bet, and probably should be your only focus between now and the midterms,” Sawyer Hackett, a veteran Democratic strategist who worked on presidential campaigns for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Julian Castro, told ABC News.
2025 election states: New Jersey, Virginia, California, New York City
In New Jersey, Democratic candidate and U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill received support on the trail from a crowd of presidential hopefuls, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, California Rep. Ro Khanna, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
And in Virginia, Democratic candidate and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger had the support of Beshear, Buttigieg, Emanuel, Gallego, Kelly, Khanna, Moore, Shapiro, and Whitmer.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and Klobuchar separately stumped for “Proposition 50” in California, while Khanna and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stumped for Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in New York City.
Key early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina
Some of the presidential hopefuls have flocked to states with early nominating contests. The Democratic Party is currently reevaluating its calendar for when those early contests will occur, but Hackett said Democrats hoping to run are still covering their bases.
Iowa, which usually boasts first-in-the-nation caucuses, will host a closely watched Senate race next year. The state also has some competitive House seats.
Iowa hosted former Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in March and Buttigieg for a town hall in May, while Gallego visited in August and Emanuel came by in September. Kelly is set to visit in November, while Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen spoke to Iowa Democrats in September.
New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first presidential primaries and will hold a contested U.S. Senate race in 2026 for the seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, has hosted several lawmakers. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear visited earlier this month; Gallego and Khanna stopped by in August; Klobuchar was there in July and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will visit in November.
When Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker visited in April, he painted a dire picture for his party.
“Fellow Democrats, for far too long, we’ve been guilty of listening to a bunch of do-nothing political types who would tell you that America’s house is not on fire, even as the flames were licking their faces,” Pritzker said.
South Carolina, meanwhile, also has an early presidential primary. This year, it saw visits from Beshear, Khanna and Newsom in July — who told rural residents “what we’re experiencing is America in reverse.”
Kelly visited in September, while Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Walz visited in late May for South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn’s “Fish Fry” event, which has often been fertile waters for would-be Pennsylvania Avenue hopefuls.
Both Walz and Moore have told ABC News previously they are not “running” for president or have no plans to run.
Battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin
Several 2028 presidential hopefuls have also made their way around the seven battleground states, which have been considered winnable by either party and have an outsized influence on where campaigns place their resources.
A few potential candidates have or plan to pay visits to Arizona, including Ocasio-Cortez, who visited in March as part of the Fighting Oligarchy tour run by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders. Whitmer visited in March, while Booker visited in April and Buttigieg visited in October. Harris, who recently said she’ll “possibly” run for president again, will be speaking there in April 2026.
Arizona has two congressional seats currently held by Republicans viewed as competitive, according to the Cook Political Report.
Georgia is often the site of both a close presidential race and critical down-ballot races. Khanna visited in August, while Harris made a stop there on her book tour in October.
Further north, Moore and Khanna have paid visits this year to the battleground state of Michigan, where both President Donald Trump and Democratic Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin won in 2024.
Wisconsin, which had the closest margin between Trump and Harris in 2024 of the battleground states, saw visits from Klobuchar in March, Khanna in May, Walz in March and September and Whitmer in October.
Nevada, which also often figures early in the presidential primary calendar, saw visits this year from Ocasio-Cortez in March, Pritzker and Khanna in August, and Gallego and Kelly in September.
North Carolina saw visits from Pritzker in July and Buttigieg in September. Harris visited for her book tour there in October, while fellow Californian Khanna will drop by in November.
Pennsylvania is also a key battleground state. Moore delivered a commencement address at Lincoln University in Gettysburg in May, the same month Gallego and Khanna paid their own visits. Notably, two Republicans in Pennsylvania, Reps. Scott Perry and Ryan Mackenzie, are expecting to face fierce fights to hold onto their seats.
Khanna recently said the party’s focus is to win back control of the House, which has a Republican majority.
“We have already a number of great candidates for 2028 that’ll emerge, but right now the focus has to be to take back the House in terms of political priority,” Khanna told public media organization WHYY.
(WASHINGTON) — A key Senate hearing from five years ago is the center of the federal probe into former FBI Director James Comey, sources told ABC News Thursday.
At least two exchanges he had with lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee in September of 2020 are being scrutinized, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Comey, who appeared virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lied when he affirmed prior congressional testimony that he never authorized leaks to the media, the sources said.
“On May 3rd, 2017, in this committee, Chairman Grassley asked you point blank, have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation? You responded under oath, ‘Never.’ He then asked you, ‘Have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton administration?’ You responded again under oath, ‘No.’ Now, as you know, Mr. McCabe, who works for you, has publicly and repeatedly stated that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and that you were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it. Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false. Who’s telling the truth?” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked Comey.
“I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017,” Comey responded.
“So your testimony is you’ve never authorized anyone to leak? And Mr. McCabe, if he says contrary, is not telling the truth, is that correct?” Cruz asked.
“Again, I’m not going to characterize Andy’s testimony, but mine is the same today,” Comey responded.
The federal prosecutors separately investigated an exchange between Comey and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, in which Comey said he could not recall a September 2016 intelligence document he had been sent.
Republicans said his response raises questions as to whether the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was a result of a strategy pushed by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Intelligence officials have raised doubts regarding the validity of that document.
On Wednesday, prosecutors determined they would be unable to convince a jury that Comey knowingly gave false testimony in either exchange.
While they informed President Donald Trump’s appointed U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan of their determination in a memo on Monday, sources told ABC News that she still intends to press forward and seek an indictment of Comey.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to reporters during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building, September 29, 2025 in Washington. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Top congressional leaders are heading to the White House Monday afternoon to meet with President Donald Trump in a last-ditch effort to avert a government shutdown — but as a stalemate persists just one day from the deadline, a shutdown seems nearly inevitable barring an unexpected breakthrough.
Hours before the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that there’s “nothing to negotiate” with bipartisan congressional leadership Monday — as the administration continues to push lawmakers to pass a short-term funding bill known as a clean clean continuing resolution.
“Our message and what we want out of this is very simple: The president wants to keep the government open. He wants to keep the government funded. There is zero good reason for Democrats to vote against this clean continuing resolution,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House Monday morning. “The president is giving Democrats one last chance to be reasonable today.”
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are digging in ahead of the Tuesday night deadline – with Democrats maintaining their posture that they will not vote to keep the government open without lofty health care concessions. Those demands include restoring $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts passed into law this summer on top of a permanent extension of the Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, saving health insurance for 3.8 million people at a cost of $350 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
“House Democrats, Senate Democrats are in lockstep,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday morning at the Capitol. “We’re headed into the meeting to have a good faith negotiation about landing the plane in a way that avoids a government shutdown but does not continue the Republican assault on the health care of the American people.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hopes the meeting is focused on “serious negotiation.”
“We need a serious negotiation. Now, if the president at this meeting is going to rant, and just yell at Democrats, and talk about all his alleged grievances, and say this, that, and the other thing, we won’t get anything done. But my hope is it’ll be a serious negotiation,” Schumer said on Sunday.
The meeting marks the first bicameral, bipartisan congressional leadership face-to-face meeting of Trump’s second term — and comes after a previously-scheduled meeting last week was nixed by the president after he said he reviewed the Democratic proposal and judged that a meeting would not be productive.
“Republicans control the House and the Senate, and as a Republican president, if the government shuts down, it’s because Republicans want to shut the government down,” Jeffries said.
A meeting was agreed to after Schumer implored Senate Majority Leader John Thune for help getting through to Trump, according to a Schumer aide — though Jeffries seems unmoved by the prospect of drawn-out negotiations.
Last week, the White House issued guidance to federal agencies that they should consider executing a reduction in force for federal employees whose jobs are not deemed essential to government operations — a move intended to increase pressure on Democrats who have a stated goal to protect a federal workforce that’s already been slashed by the Trump administration.
While House Republicans passed a stop-gap measure to keep the government open through Nov. 21, the measure has stalled in the Senate, where at least seven Democrats must vote for any measure that staves off a shutdown.
Republicans crafted a “clean” seven-week stop-gap bill in order to create more time for congressional appropriators to work through regular order: 12 separate full-year funding bills. Congress has not passed all 12 appropriations bills through regular order since 1997, and the task has only been completed four times since 1977 when current budget rules took effect.
Speaker Mike Johnson maintained over the weekend that passing the short-term continuing resolution is “buying a little time” for the regular appropriations process.
“The Obamacare subsidies is a policy debate that has to be determined by the end of the year, Dec. 31 — not right now, while we’re simply trying to keep the government open so we can have all these debates,” Johnson said on CNN on Sunday.
The federal government has shut down due to a lapse in appropriations 10 times since 1980, with the longest shutdown, 35 days, occurring during the first Trump administration.
