TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have driven up costs for American families and upended a decades-old trade relationship as he unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan to shield Canada’s manufacturing heartland from the trade war.
Carney also said he spoke with Trump for “quite some time” about issues including trade, as the U.S. Embassy in Canada accused Canadian politicians of seeking to influence American politics ahead of next month’s midterm elections. Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejected suggestions of improper interference.
Trump has openly said he wants automakers to move production from Canada to the United States, threatening an industry deeply integrated across the border for decades.
“U.S. tariffs have upended a trade bargain that’s existed for decades,” Carney said. “They’ve raised costs for American families while putting Ontario workers and businesses at a disadvantage and under a cloud of uncertainty.”
Carney said an integrated North American auto industry would benefit both countries but acknowledged that it may no longer be a priority for Washington. “Their approach has changed,” he said. “So must ours.”
Carney said the conversation covered Iran, the Middle East and some trade issues. They discussed Ukraine days earlier. He gave no indication of a breakthrough but said Canada remains ready to negotiate.
Trade negotiations collapsed in August after the countries appeared close to a deal. Trump subsequently imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian goods, prompting Canadian retaliation.
“It’s clear that Canada’s relationship with the United States has changed permanently,” Ford said. “No matter what happens in the midterms, no matter who sits in the White House, we’re not going back to the way things were.”
Trump’s trade war and repeated threats to make Canada the 51st U.S. state have fueled a surge in Canadian nationalism. Carney has made reducing Canada’s dependence on the United States a priority, setting a goal of doubling exports to other markets over the next decade.
Carney and Ford announced the 8.7 billion Canadian dollar ($6.2 billion) plan to support steelmakers, automakers and critical mineral development in Ontario, Canada’s manufacturing heartland.
The plan includes CA$5.2 billion ($3.7 billion) over five years for steelmakers and CA$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion) for automakers, including CA$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) from Ottawa.
The announcement comes as U.S.-owned steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs announced layoffs at its Hamilton, Ontario, plant, highlighting the toll of Trump’s tariffs on Canadian manufacturing.
Also Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy issued a fact sheet accusing Canadian politicians of seeking to interfere in American elections.
The statement singled out Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for discussing retaliatory tariffs targeting Republican states and Ford for airing a U.S. advertisement featuring former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. Trump abruptly canceled trade talks with Canada after the ad aired during the World Series in October 2025.
The embassy also cited 11 Canadians charged with illegally voting in U.S. elections between 2012 and 2026, without linking the cases to Canada’s government.
The administration has launched a whole-of-government effort to investigate and prosecute noncitizen voting, something election experts and administrators characterize as a comparatively small issue. The Department of Justice says that since the start of 2026 it has arrested more than 200 people for illegally voting as noncitizens in past elections, a vanishingly small number compared to the country's tens of millions of regular voters.
“The items featured in the U.S. embassy’s ‘fact sheet’ are not genuine examples of foreign interference and the implicit assumption that Canada could significantly alter the outcome of the midterms is absurd,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
“Accusing Canada of foreign interference ahead of the midterms could pave the way to ‘Blame Canada’ rhetoric after the electoral results are in.”
Carney said Canada was responding to U.S. tariffs, while Ford denied any interest in interfering in American elections.
Carney said Canadian auto exports to the U.S. have fallen more than 10%, while U.S. exports to Canada have dropped more than 20%.
“Tariffs make both our industries weaker and reduce choice for our families,” Carney said.
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, right, are joined by federal and provincial ministers at a joint news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, not shown, participate in a joint news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, not shown, participate in a joint news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
ATLANTA (AP) — Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream are halfway toward their ultimate goal of winning the franchise's first WNBA championship.
They know there is still work to do. But with a huge Atlanta crowd behind them and Reese dominating the last two games, there's reason to believe in a team that never even had a WNBA Finals win until this series.
Reese had 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the Dream beat the Golden State Valkyries 97-71 on Wednesday night and take a 2-1 lead. It was the second straight strong game for Reese, who had 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2, which the Dream also won for their first victory ever in the championship round. She has a double-double in each game of the finals.
“It feels good when you’re in the finals. It’s a long season and you play against everybody and go through and push through, but when you can do it at the highest level, this is what you live for, this is what the offseason is for," Reese said. "I put the work in for this moment and I’m just happy I could lead the team to a win. We’re feeling good going into Saturday.”
That game will also be played at State Farm Arena. Both games in Atlanta were originally set for the Gateway Center Arena, where the Dream play most of their home games. The league was able to work with the Atlanta Hawks to play Games 3 and 4 there so that they could have a much bigger crowd. Gateway only seats 3,500. State Farm Arena can seat more than 17,000 fans.
And they made a difference.
“Protect home court,” Atlanta's Rhyne Howard said. “Giving our fans a show. We fought for this arena so we had to protect it. It’s big. We went and stole one but we can’t let them come in and do the same thing.”
With the game tied at 49 in the third quarter, Atlanta scored eight straight, including four by Reese. Golden State got within 59-55 on Tiffany Hayes’ layup, but could get no closer as Atlanta closed the quarter scoring 12 of the final 14 points.
“I’m most proud of the second half because the first few possessions were a little sloppy. I was really close to using a timeout. They pulled together on their own and got it worked out, cleaned it up themselves,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said. “They knew what mistakes they were making, and they huddled up. And then they started making plays, and it started. The crowd started getting behind it.”
Atlanta has dominated the third quarter so far in the series, outscoring Golden State 63-35 combined in the three games.
With Atlanta up 17 in the fourth quarter, Jordin Canada overthrew Reese on the break, but she saved the ball by throwing it over her head underneath the basket to Howard, who got fouled.
Golden State could never recover. Gabby Williams scored 15 points and Hayes added 14 for the Valkyries.
“Disappointed in our fight. This game they wanted it more than us,” Hayes said. “That’s not who we are, who we’ve been and how we got here.”
Wednesday night’s game was sold out as is Game 4 on Saturday. The crowd included many music stars, including Ludacris. Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom said he was going to be at the game. The Atlanta Dream and State Farm Arena offered him a private suite for his protection. He refused to sit in it and was left the arena.
The game got off to a slow start as Atlanta led 9-1 after the first five minutes. Golden State missed its first eight shots before Aminata Gueye scored the first basket for the Valkyries with 4:39 left. They got within 13-10 before Hillmon hit consecutive 3-pointers and then Reese hit one. The Dream led 23-15 after the opening quarter.
The hot 3-point shooting continued in the second quarter as Atlanta built its lead to 37-26 midway through the period. Golden State was able to hang around and only trailed 46-40 at the break as the teams combined to shoot 15-for-31 (48%) from behind the arc. That was more made 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes then in either Game 1 or Game 2.
Reese had 15 points and WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year Janelle Salaun had 11 for the Valkyries.
Game 1 and 2 had huge ratings with the opener on NBC averaging 2.1 million, the most ever to watch a first game of the Finals. Game 2, which was broadcast on USA Network, averaged 1.33 million viewers.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Golden State Valkyries center Kiah Stokes (41) is defended by Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün (13) reacts after making a 3-point basket against the Atlanta Dream during the first half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Golden State Valkyries center Aminata Gueye, left, and Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) compete for possession of the ball during the second half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) reacts after scoring during the first half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) celebrates scoring during the first half of Game 3 of the WNBA basketball finals against the Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
