Who is Pete Hoekstra, the Trump diplomat furious with Doug Ford?

Doug Ford’s anti-tariff commercial has stopped airing on U.S. networks, but the controversial ad is still getting plenty of attention.

According to multiple reports published today, Donald Trump’s Ambassador to Canada was so furious over the ad that he angrily confronted Ontario’s representative to Washington at a Monday event.

Pete Hoekstra reportedly dropped some f-bombs while scolding David Paterson. The Globe and Mail reported that the ambassador was overheard saying Canada was close to a tariff deal on steel, aluminum and energy — but that Ford derailed all the progress made.

Last weekend, President Trump abruptly called off trade talks with Canada and threatened to introduce an additional 10 per cent tariff after seeing the Ontario government’s commercial during the World Series broadcast.

Speaking to reporters today, Premier Ford called on Hoekstra to apologize to Paterson, describing his profane tirade as “absolutely unacceptable” and “unbecoming of an ambassador.” 

“Pete, you gotta call Dave up and apologize,” Ford said. “It’s simple. The cheese slipped off the cracker. I get it. But call the guy up because you’re a good guy, and Dave’s my champion.”

Who is Pete Hoekstra, Trump’s man in Canada?

The longtime former Congressman from Michigan was a guest last month on Village Media’s Closer Look podcast. He spoke at length about why the Trump Administration has embraced tariffs, his stern belief that Canada enjoys “the best trade deal” of any country in the world, and what he thinks of Canadians who have decided to boycott the U.S.

Hoekstra was also asked about his relationship with Ford.

“Doug's a great guy,” he told the podcast. “He gave me one of your slightly odd-shaped Canadian footballs.”

Hoekstra called Ford’s team “a very media-savvy bunch,” and said he and the Trump Administration are very aware of his stances on certain subjects.

“Obviously, Doug is on a different page than where the U.S. Administration is,” he said. “I haven't moved Doug to a point where I can get him to be a strong advocate for the Canadian-American relationship.”

You can watch the full interview with Hoekstra HERE.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

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