Wall Street Journal editorial board: Trump 'wrong' on Reagan, tariffs

The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal is criticizing President Trump over his reaction to a advertisement commissioned by the Canadian government knocking him on trade policies that invoked former President Ronald Reagan.

"Mr. Trump is wrong about the Reagan speech, and he was wrong when he said on social media that 'Ronald Reagan LOVED tariffs for purposes of National Security and the Economy,'" the Journal wrote in an editorial published on Sunday.

"The Gipper was a free trader. In the 1987 speech, Reagan was trying to explain why he was making an exception to his free-trade policies on semiconductor imports from Japan," the newspaper argued. "Mr. Trump has been fortunate that his tariffs haven’t triggered much retaliation, which has spared us from a global trade war. But the tariffs are doing economic damage by raising costs for consumers and businesses and by dampening animal spirits that should be soaring with his tax bill and deregulation."

Trump reacted in anger to the ad, which featured remarks from Reagan that criticized tariffs, calling the spot "fake" and terminating all trade negotiations with Canada over the ad.

"He can boast about tariffs all he wants," the Journal added. "But he shouldn’t get away with taking Reagan’s trade beliefs in vain."

The back-and-forth comes as the Supreme Court is slated to review legal challenges to Trump's sweeping tariffs on some of the nation's largest trade partners.