Ontario Premier Doug Ford and US President Donald Trump have traded insults following the breakdown of trade talks between Canada and the US
Ford on Monday called Trump a "dictator" and the "king of bankruptcies" after the president criticised him on his social media platform Truth Social.
Earlier, Ford had said Trump could "kiss my a--," a remark he repeated during a news conference in Hamilton, Ontario.
Trump wrote that Ford was "the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great Rob Ford," referring to the former Toronto mayor who died in 2016.
Trump also repeated his argument that Canada "couldn’t survive" without the US and again referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney as "Governor Carney," a reference to his calls for Canada to become the 51st US state.
'King of bankruptcies'
Ford responded minutes later.
"I am not going to take any advice off a guy that is the king of bankruptcies and he is actually tariffing his own people, taxing his own people," Ford said. "I don't respond to a dictator like President Trump."
"He's the type of guy in school that would take your lunch money one day, take your toque off your head the next day and then steal your running shoes."
Trump, for his part, referred to the premier as "Flunky Ford."
"Ford also threatened to impose an export tariff on electricity supplied by Ontario to about 1.5 million homes and businesses in Michigan, New York and Minnesota.
He noted that Alberta supplies the US with about 4.1 million barrels of oil per day.
Trump vowed on Monday to double tariffs on Canadian vehicles beginning next year, as the historically friendly neighbors spiral into an escalating trade war.
Trump's threat comes after the historic North American allies failed Friday to reach a deal to avert new 50-percent US tariffs on select Canadian goods.
The duties took effect Saturday, and Ottawa laid out plans for retaliation.
Carney said on Monday that the goal of trade talks with Washington "has always been to get the best deal for Canadians, never a deal at any price or on any time frame."
