Politico Magazine reports:
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, plans to rain economic punishment on Americans if President Donald Trump targets Canada in a trade war. Ford has threatened to cut power transmission to U.S. homes and businesses and banish U.S. liquor from Ontario shelves. Wearing a MAGA-like hat reading “Canada Is Not For Sale,” Ford has pledged to target red states with dollar-for-dollar retaliation. In an interview Wednesday, he described himself matter-of-factly as a brawler with a reflex for combat.
“I’m a street fighter in politics,” Ford told me. “If someone throws a punch at me, I’m going to hit him back twice as hard.” Also, Ford is pretty sure that he and Trump would get along. “Absolutely,” he said. “One. Hundred. Percent.” It is not difficult to imagine Ford, a 60-year-old smiling bulldozer of a man, enjoying the buffet at Mar-a-Lago or taking in a UFC match at Trump’s side. A right-of-center businessman-politician with a loyal working-class base, Ford has drawn casual comparisons with Trump for years.
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My column today: Doug Ford’s Muscle-Flexing, Crowd-Pleasing, Populist Trump-Management Strategy
As world leaders, billionaires & executives kneel and plead, Canada’s No. 1 populist has a different theory of handling the new presidenthttps://t.co/rrPeCpHWtT
— Alex Burns (@alexanderburns) January 25, 2025