Well, we've got a lot to talk about. This has been quite a 48 hour cycle for

you, for the Prime Minister and for President Trump.

And we were listening to your words yesterday.

We've been covering this very closely here, as you would imagine at Bloomberg,

with the resulting dollar for dollar tariffs that kicked in today, or at

least were announced today to kick in on the 8th of September.

You've had quite a war of words here with the president of the United States.

You called him a bully, the king of bankruptcies, a loser.

And you said, I've dealt with guys like you my whole life.

Premier, what kind of guys are that? Well, you know, I think things got a

little heated, Joe, yesterday between both of us.

He was throwing insults. He's not trying to throw insults to

anyone. And, uh, I hit back, but I think it'd be

more productive if we actually sit down and the Prime Minister and the president

sit down and have a fair deal for everyone, because right now there's, uh,

there's there's not certainty in either country.

There's not stability. I talked to a lot of governors and

senators and congresspeople. Uh, they need certainty.

Their constituents need certainty. And the way you do it is by signing a

fair, uh, trade deal. And I told the prime minister, uh, no

deal is better than a bad deal. And we have to go tariff for tariff and

and, uh, dollar for dollar. And it's unfortunate, uh, we we had an

attack from President Trump on our sovereignty, on our country, on the

economy that we're so integrated. Uh, both both countries were both each

other's number one customer, and it just doesn't make sense to, uh, attack,

attack each other. Well, we understand Ontario is

disproportionately impacted by these tariffs.

When you look across the country of Canada, will you move if this is the

direction we're going in to cut off electricity to the United States as you

threaten? Well, I wouldn't say cut it off, but uh,

surcharges for sure doesn't make sense to the Ontario people that, uh, when

we're under attack economically. That we'd be sending electricity down to

companies and residents to keep their power going.

I have an idea, Joe. I'd like to send more electricity down

there. I'd like to create a fortress North

America, and keep an eye on people that may not see eye to eye with both

countries, like China and Russia. For right now, it seems like the

president is treating communist China better than his closest friend and ally

for over 200 years. It's not productive.

And a tariff on on Canada is nothing more than a tax on the American people.

And we've seen that they're going to be paying thousands of dollars more in

cost. The president ran on reducing, uh,

unemployment. And it's actually he lost jobs.

Last month we gained 52,000. In Ontario alone, 120,004 months.

We're diversifying our trade. And once that train leaves the station

and we're we're dealing with other countries around the world, which we've

seen increases of 100 150% of new trade. It's hard to turn that train around.

So we're going to continue working with the administration, and I'm confident

that Prime Minister and the president, hopefully

president, will come to their senses and actually make a fair deal.

Well, I'll tell you, I've been watching the president's Truth social feed, as

I'm sure you have. He's been saying a lot and posting a lot

about Canada, including this one. The U.S.

is giving serious consideration, he says, to changing the name of Lake

Ontario to Lake America, and that we don't expect to be doing much business

with Ontario much longer. How much of this is serious, Premier?

How much of this is chest thumping around the negotiating table that will

actually end up in a deal? Well, you know something that's up to

the president if he wants to change Lake Ontario, not Lake America.

I know Canadians, we're always going to call it Lake Ontario.

But that's that's a lot of rhetoric again.

And, uh, he's saying he won't do a lot of business with Ontario.

Well, let me remind the president 9 million Americans wake up every single

morning to produce a product, a widget or a service for Ontario.

Uh, we're a standalone country, which I never recommend.

Would be your third largest trading partner in the world.

Ontario alone. Canada is your number one customer.

Ontario is the number one customer to 15 states and number 2 to 12 others.

So it would really, really affect, uh, a lot of states.

I'll give you an example, Joe. You know, already the auto sector has

been hit by a $110 billion. That's $210 billion.

And I you know, I feel for the auto workers of Ontario, but I also because I

love the Americans, I love the U.S.. I think about the workers in Texas and

Kentucky and Michigan and Illinois and Ohio that are going to lose their job

because we buy 400% more vehicles than anywhere else in the entire world.

And so it's going to be unfortunate if we go down this, uh, go down this road,

bring us inside to the extent that you can.

What happened on a Saturday night? There was a lot of ink spilled in the

days before this, uh, to suggest that a deal was at hand.

Uh, we know things fell apart at the 11th hour.

There has been reporting that Howard Ludwick might have been the one who

pulled the plug on things. Uh, who are you looking at on the other

side of the table? Who is walking away from the table?

Well, what what what happened I mentioned were the engine of Canada.

Uh, Ontario is. And I told the Prime minister, this is

an absolute terrible deal. It's a terrible deal for auto sectors,

for steel workers from India factory. What did the terms of that deal change

at the last minute? We understand that there was some real

miscommunication on the way these messages were sent.

It was what I understand, uh, you know, they kept changing the goalpost

constantly right up to the last minute. And you can't negotiate.

When you change the goalposts in the last minute.

You have to have trust and faith in your, uh, partner.

You have trust and faith in Howard Platnick?

Well, you know, Howard is a shrewd operator, and I've talked to him, uh, a

few times. Uh, he's trying to protect the United

States. And the best way to protect the United

States. Just make a deal.

May make, you know, in the auto sector, we say you can't unscramble an egg

that's been around since the 1960s. The auto pack.

You have to make the omelet larger. And when we see Chinese vehicles coming

in, uh, that's that's really, really challenging for autoworkers in the U.S.

setting in Canada. Uh, there's one way to fix this.

Just like Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan never believed in in, uh, tariffs.

He believed in making sure that he created an environment and conditions

for for Americans to have more jobs, more exports, more trade around the

world. And unfortunately, uh, President Trump

has taken a different avenue that just does not work.

It's going to cost Americans thousands and thousands of dollars.

Uh, and it's, um, it's unfortunate. So we're the number one customer when it

comes to steel and aluminum and, uh, oil, 4.1 million barrels of oil and

potash that takes care of your agricultural sector.

High grade nickel. I could just keep listing it off, and,

uh, it's going to. It's going to hurt the American people.

I love the American people. I love the U.S..

Uh, unfortunately, we've been put in this position when you, uh, attack our

sovereignty and call us the 51st state and call the prime minister our

governor. Uh, it's unfortunate, but that's who

we're dealing with. And, uh, we'll get through it.

And hopefully the American people will see this voice their opinion, and we'll

see what happens in the midterms. Well, speaking of what Canada buys by a

lot of booze as well. And the American booze has not been on

the shelves in Ontario, uh, since March of 2025, which I know was uh, was your

decision at the time. And there have been questions about what

it might take to get it back. Would that need to be a full deal with

Canada a full? Yeah.

I've said over and over again, Joe, you get a full deal that blues is coming

back on the shelves. It's really symbolic.

It's about $1 billion compared to the auto sector, and the is worth over $100

billion. So, uh, yeah, I'd put the blues back

down, uh, back on the shelves and in a heartbeat if we had a fair deal.

And I've been saying that over and over again.

Uh, this this does not work. We we buy more agriculture, uh, products

than any while actually, we're tied in with Mexico.

About $30 billion each. So there's there's a lot of things I

play right now that just hurts two closest friends and two closest allies.

I've been getting a lot of calls from the governors and senators and

congresspeople saying this. This is, uh, this is terrible what's

happening between our friendship and our, uh, you know, two great countries.

I'm struck by the tone of of this whole conversation, Premier.

And I look, I know sometimes things get out of hand.

And you were feeling hot yesterday, and so was the president, but I'm.

I'm hearing a real conciliatory tone after all the fire yesterday.

Did something happen overnight? Did you get a phone call or just wake up

feeling that. Well.

No, no. You know something?

I love America and I love the U.S., and I'm thinking, this is crazy.

I spent 20 years of my life in the U.S., and I'm thinking, you know, the

President Trump has put two great countries, uh, in a position that we're

fighting right now, and it's just not worth it.

Uh, yeah, it got heated yesterday, but let's move on.

That's all part of going back and forth. But it got carried away.

And I'm not innocent by any means. But I'm going to take a different

approach. I'm going to move forward.

I never got any calls from from anyone. I just want to, uh, get a deal made when

I'm hearing from, uh, the American public, I get my phone number out, uh,

publicly. It's on the internet.

I get a lot of calls from the US, but I get a lot of calls from elected

officials down in the U.S.. So let's let's just make a deal.

Let's make this happen. Let's get both countries to prosper and

grow and create jobs and stability and certainty.

That's what we need. No one wins in a trade war.

What are the odds? We see you at the white House for a beer

summit with President Trump. When this is all.

Well, maybe he gets not a beer. So maybe a Putin summit premier.

Yeah, well, you know, neither of us drink, so, uh, I don't know this.

This falls under the Prime Minister. They'll make that deal.

And, uh, let's hope one day that, uh, the Prime Minister can sit down and

maybe have a poutine, a beer, whatever it is.

And, uh, sort this, sort this all out because it's really, uh, disappointing

right now, uh, being attacked by President Trump because it just hurts

the American people. Uh, that's all this is doing.

Uh, we'll get through it. I think both countries will get through

it. But, uh, it's not going to be good.

And it's going to it's going to hurt, uh, the American people.