Is Doug Ford's tough talk on Trump working? Experts say it might be gaining traction

Doug Ford struck his most aggressive tone to date this week as he blamed Donald Trump for "causing chaos" with his tariff threats, and experts say the attacks from Ontario's Conservative premier and appeals to the president's Republican allies might be gaining traction.

Ford came out swinging at a news conference Tuesday, the day Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs on most Canadian goods. He levelled some of his most pointed criticism yet of the man he once praised and pledged his "unwavering" support.

Ford slammed Trump and called on Republican politicians in the U.S. Congress and Senate to push back against the president, predicting he would be punished in the 2026 mid-term elections if the impact of tariffs were felt by Americans. 

"So the Congress people in the red states, you need to speak up for your people," Ford said. "Because your factories are going to be empty, they're going to be shut down, there's going to be unemployment, inflation is going to hit and it's going to hurt the American people."

WATCH | Ford to impose 25% electricity surcharge on U.S.:

Ford to impose 25% electricity surcharge on U.S.

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province will charge an extra 25 per cent on electricity going to the United States as of Monday. The retaliatory move will affect 1.5 million customers in three states. CBC’s Lorenda Reddekopp has the latest.

Ford even went so far as to muse about campaigning against Trump himself.

"He needs to pay the price in the mid-terms," he said. "If I've got to go down there and knock on the doors myself, I will."

Trump ally asks Ford to tone down his rhetoric

According to a report from the Globe and Mail, confirmed by CBC Toronto, that tone sparked a call from Trump's own commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. He asked Ford to ease up with his rhetoric, a request the premier refused.

Conservative strategist Shakir Chambers said Lutnick's call shows that Ford has managed to grab the attention of people in the White House and his appeals have them concerned. He's also channeling the frustrations of many Canadians who are angrily watching the tariff threats unfold.

"I have friends, and regardless of their political stripe, they're applauding how aggressive Ford is in dealing with the White House," said Chambers, vice-president of consulting firm Oyster Group.

Ford has been making multiple daily appearances on U.S. cable news shows since December, when the tariff threats first emerged, which have accelerated in recent days. In those, Ford has also aggressively blamed Trump for contributing to rising retail prices for Americans, something that flies in the face of the president's promise to bring down the cost of living.

Chambers said he initially dismissed the Ford team's U.S. media strategy, thinking it would be ineffective in the massive American media market. But after this week, he thinks the premier may have broken through with messages targeting American conservatives watching channels like Fox News.

"When you have American conservatives and American commentators say, 'This is a dumb idea, maybe we should back down,' I think those are the voices that Donald Trump listens to," he said. "Ford is connecting with the right audience in the US."

Ford learns hard lesson about Trump, expert says

McMaster University political science professor Peter Graefe said it's hard to take Ford's newfound aggression towards Trump seriously. During the Ontario election, Ford admitted within ear-shot of a microphone that he was happy Trump won during the November US election. 

Graefe points out that Trump's views on tariffs have been clear for some time and Ford himself has learned a hard lesson about supporting the mercurial U.S. president.

"I think Mr. Ford is maybe late in discovering some features of Mr. Trump's personality or how he engages situations," Graefe said. "But the very material impacts of Mr. Trump's decisions mean that Mr. Ford has been shaken out of thinking like a partisan and having to think much more like an Ontarian."

Liberal strategist Charles Bird said Ford's tough talk may be an asset to the federal ministers who are negotiating directly with the Trump administration. He can go further in his rhetoric and play "bad cop" because he isn't sitting at the table with them, he said.

"Premier Ford has not hesitated to go at them with both barrels," said Bird, principal at Earnscliffe Strategies. "That's something that our federal ministers, and the prime minister, have to be a little more careful about."

Graefe said he is skeptical of the overall impact of Ford's rhetoric and media strategy. But thinks he is better suited, as a prominent Canadian conservative, to deliver the message of the detrimental impacts of tariffs to Americans than other Canadian politicians.

"He probably is more effective than Mr. Trudeau in reaching parts of the American electorate with the message that this is not something that Canada wants to be doing, but has no choice to do," he said. "He's not really moving the dial that much, but presumably that's better than the alternative of not moving it at all."

But Bird disagrees, and points to the call from Lutnick as evidence that Ford has gotten under Trump's skin.

"I say this as a lifelong Liberal, I would tell him to keep doing what he's doing," he said. "If this becomes uncomfortable politically for the Americans to be doing, and as we get closer to the mid-terms at the end of next year … that is significant.

"We only have so many cards to play."