{"id":15061,"date":"2025-02-04T11:30:23","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T11:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/before-tariffs-ford-says-he-was-100-happy-trump-won-u-s-election-in-hot-mic-comments\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T11:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T11:30:23","slug":"before-tariffs-ford-says-he-was-100-happy-trump-won-u-s-election-in-hot-mic-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/before-tariffs-ford-says-he-was-100-happy-trump-won-u-s-election-in-hot-mic-comments\/","title":{"rendered":"Before tariffs, Ford says he was \u2018100% happy\u2019 Trump won U.S. election in hot mic comments"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Doug Ford\u2019s personal views about U.S. President Donald Trump bubbled to the surface of Ontario\u2019s snap election campaign after candid comments by the Progressive Conservative party leader were picked up at a campaign stop.<\/p>\n

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Speaking to a small group of people at his local campaign headquarters, Ford appeared to explain his initial admiration for Trump in a moment caught on hot mic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn election day, was I happy this guy won? One hundred per cent I was,\u201d Ford can be heard saying in the clip. \u201cThen the guy pulled out the knife and f****** yanked it into us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday when Ford made the comments, Trump was planning to level 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports to the United States. By dinner time the same day, that threat had been pushed off until at least early March.<\/p>\n

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Ford\u2019s team did not respond to questions from Global News in time for publication.<\/p>\n

The campaign trail was dominated by the threat of Trump\u2019s tariffs with the PCs, Liberals and NDP all unveiling promises to tackle the fallout on Monday.<\/p>\n

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The PC leader unveiled billions in new promises for job protection funding and business relief if re-elected, while defending his decision to call an early election. Ford has said he needs a fresh mandate to deal with Trump but his opponents contend it hamstrings the province\u2019s tariff response and was just called to benefit the PCs.<\/p>\n

The election is \u201can attempt to cling to power,\u201d Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said in Kitchener, Ont., on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, when you know there\u2019s a threat coming with an incoming president rattling the sabre of punitive economic measures including tariffs, would you choose this moment to go to an election call?\u201d she said prior to the tariff reversal.<\/p>\n

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said Ford is \u201cplaying politics\u201d with tariffs and it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Ford should cancel a $100-million deal with Trump ally Elon Musk to provide Starlink satellite internet in northern Ontario as part of a plan to future-proof the province to potential tariff threats later in Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n