The leader of Canada’s most populous province on Wednesday countered Donald Trump’s tariff threats to the northern nation by using a medium that the U.S. president-elect’s base knows well: hats.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, rocked a navy blue “Canada Is Not For Sale” hat with a Canadian flag patch during a press conference — a not-so-subtle jab at Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” caps that feature a U.S. flag patch on the side.
“This is about everyday Canadians standing up for the country,” said Ford of his accessory.
Ford recently mocked Trump for trolling his country, after the U.S. president-elect threatened to impose a 25% tariff on all goods entering the U.S. from Canada and called now-outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “governor” and entertained talk of turning Canada into the “51st state.”
Ford, in response, has warned of cutting off energy exports to the U.S. and declared that workers in his province could see the loss of 500,000 jobs due to the proposed tariffs.
The hats come from Ottawa-based creative consulting firm Jackpine Dynamic Branding, whose founder Liam Mooney cited Ford’s interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters last week as the inspiration behind the accessory.
Watters told Ford he’d consider it a “privilege” to be taken over by the U.S. and he finds it “personally offensive” that Canada wouldn’t side with such an idea.
“Well I’ve got news for those folks, it’s a privilege to be Canadian,” Mooney told CTV News. “And it’s an amazing privilege. And so we just sprung into action. From concept onto the premier in one week. It was pretty awesome.”
Both currentand former Canadian politicians have condemned Trump’s threats, including Ford, who in a press conference before a meeting with Trudeau on Wednesday, declared that Canadians cannot let Trump “divide us.”
“I understand that all around the country, everyone has their concerns or jurisdictions from coast to coast to coast,” he said.
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“But there’s one thing that’s more important than jurisdictions — it’s standing up for the country. Country comes first over anything and we’re going to continue to fight against these tariffs and we’re going to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure that happens.”