Hoekstra says U.S. watching Canada for signs of interference in midterm elections

OTTAWA — U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says American officials are “closely watching” Canadian politicians for signs of election interference ahead of pivotal midterm elections next month.

During an interview on “The Really Big Show” podcast that was posted last week, Hoekstra said political ads run by the province of Ontario last year could be interpreted as political interference.

U.S. President Donald Trump ended trade talks with Canada in October 2025 after Ontario aired an ad during the World Series using clips of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs and supporting free trade.

Hoekstra also cited recent comments by Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and former prime minister Justin Trudeau and suggested they also could amount to interference.

Hoekstra went on to warn Canadian politicians to keep their “nose out” of American politics in the weeks before the midterm elections.

Trudeau criticized the Trump administration during a discussion at Brown University on Sept. 22.

“There is a pattern here of doing things that are driving up prices for your consumers and not necessarily making anything better for America, by fighting with one of your oldest and best allies,” Trudeau said during the conversation.

In the interview, Hoekstra said Joly made comments about targeting retaliatory tariffs at “politically sensitive states.”

Joly pushed back Wednesday, telling reporters Canada would never engage in election interference and would “never accept that also being done to us in Canada.”

Joly said she has been to the U.S. in recent months and has met with Democrats and Republicans.

“Fundamentally, what I’ve done in the U.S. is to attract investments,” she said. “I think I’ll be able to have good news of investments by different American companies to Canada. And that’s exactly what I’m doing and that will continue to be my strategy in the U.S. and also around the world.”

Hoekstra said if any actions by Canadians end up amounting to election interference, the United States will respond.

The ambassador declined a request from The Canadian Press for an interview.

Tension between the United States and Canada has increased since Trump won the presidential election in 2024, and began threatening to turn Canada into the 51st state.

That threat, and his attacks on Canada, have become a focal point of his stump speeches as he actively campaigns in battleground states ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, which could end Republican control over Congress.

At a rally in Bullhead City, Ariz., on Wednesday, Trump went after Canada again, listing grievances over dairy sector trade and repeating his claim that Canada treats the United States “very badly.”

He said Canada will end up being the 51st state because “that’s the only way it works.”

“We don’t need them, but they need us,” he said.

The Republicans are under heavy pressure ahead of the midterms, when the entire House of Representatives and one-third of U.S. Senate seats will be contested. While the Republicans currently hold a majority of seats in both chambers, polls suggest the Democrats could win control of both.

Peter Navarro, one of Trump’s trade advisers, warned Ottawa last month against interfering in the midterms and berated Canada over its successful lobbying efforts in the past.

Speaking at the American Growth Summit in Washington, he told the audience that any Canadians in the room intent on lobbying the U.S. government should “get the hell out of our country.”

“The problem you have is you lobby this country, and you’ve been successful in the past and you think you can keep doing that. Memo to Canada: You cannot keep doing that,” Navarro said.

“That game is up and if you interfere in our elections in Maine or Michigan, you will pay even more dearly.”

The Globe and Mail reported recently that Republican political operatives were on the ground in Alberta earlier this year to help the separatist campaign. It also reported that some Alberta separatists went to Washington to lobby for U.S. government support.

In August, Prime Minister Mark Carney ordered the Canadian negotiating team to call off trade talks with the U.S. after accusing the Americans of making unreasonable demands.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Detroit on Tuesday to make a case for tariff-free trade in the auto sector.

Poilievre appeared on CNN, where he continued to pitch the benefits of tariff-free trade.

“We have a 200-year-old relationship, there’s always going to be grievances on both sides of the border,” he said. “We have our grievances with the United States even predating this most recent trade dispute, but I would focus on what we can do together.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2026.

— With files from David Baxter and Kelly Geraldine Malone

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press