Ontario Premier Doug Ford is predicting that Republicans might “pull the carpet out from underneath” U.S. President Donald Trump if the party loses the midterm elections in November, but warns that little would change for Canadians impacted by tariffs.
During a speech and fireside chat at the Empire Club, Ford also appeared to hold back his views on American politics and expressed concerns that Trump might use his comments to retaliate against its northern neighbour.
In recent months, as the trade war between the two countries escalated, Ford and Trump took multiple verbal swipes at one another.
In August, Ford called Trump a “loser,” the “king of bankruptcies,” and told him to “kiss my ass” while Trump called Ford the “less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, (former Toronto Mayor) Rob Ford”.
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The war of words ended with the White House renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, and Ford erecting a $25,000 sign asserting the correct name.
As the mid-term elections draw closer, however, Ford is once again dipping a toe into American politics, offering new hope that the Democrats might be able to flip the Senate and House of Representatives on Nov. 3.
“President Trump is not going to last forever. He has a couple more years,” Ford told the audience.
“I spent 20 years of my life in the U.S. If he loses the Senate and the House, the Republicans are just going to pull the carpet out from underneath him. He has about a 30 per cent base (support), but that’s even being dwindled down as well,” he said.
Ford’s comments come amid a warning from U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra to Canadian politicians to “keep your nose out of American politics”
During an appearance on The Really Big Show podcast, Hoekstra said Ford’s infamous 2025 Ronald Reagan commercial amounted to “election interference” and said the Trump administration is “closely watching Canadian activities.”
“We’re monitoring it, we’re evaluating it, and if some of it becomes election interference then we’ll respond to it.”
When asked during the fireside chat whether Trump could be “weakened by his own party” after the midterms, Ford said: “I got to pick my words here.”
“He’ll change another lake on me if I say anything else.”
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