Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried his best to fend off a question about why President Donald Trump increased tariffs on Canada because of a TV ad he despised.
Speaking with Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” Sunday, the NBC host pressed Bessent for an answer on why the president “put another 10% tariff on Canada in response” to an ad that Ontario’s government ran that featured former President Ronald Reagan.
Trump’s vocal displeasure over the ad prompted him to end trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada, threatening once again to turn the key economic relationship between the United States and its second-biggest trading partner topsy-turvy.
Without answering Welker’s question directly, Bessent launched into arguing that the ad was a “kind of propaganda against U.S. citizens.” He also accused the ad of utilizing psychological operations, a military and government tactic that uses the media to influence people’s emotions to help shape the public’s perceptions.
“It’s psy-ops. Why would the government of Ontario — I’m told that they have spent or were planning to spend up to $75 million on these ads to come across the U.S. border … what was the purpose of that other than to sway public opinion?” Bessent said of the ad. “And it’s some kind of propaganda that the premier of Ontario unilaterally launched.”
