Call it the D.C. love in — as in Doug and Craft.

A fireside chat between Premier Doug Ford and U. S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft at a Washington trade conference morphed into a mutual admiration society Thursday, with Craft calling Ford “vivacious” and the premier dubbing her “my kind of gal” over their shared preference for jeans and T-shirts.

“We clicked,” Craft said of a chance meeting last summer at the Queen’s Plate — held at Woodbine Racetrack in Ford’s riding of Etobicoke North — that apparently served as a counterpoint to tense relations between the U.S. and Canada after President Donald Trump imposed punishing steel and aluminum tariffs.

“I see this guy over there, and he’s got on a white polo shirt. And it was about 116 degrees ... I really liked that guy,” Craft, a horse racing fan from Kentucky, continued in her southern accent.

Ford, who recalled being “drenched” in the heat, picked up the story on stage at the conference organized by the Canadian American Business Council to discuss implementation of the new USMCA trade deal, which will supersede the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Everyone’s all done up in tuxedos and top hats and all this nonsense and my team said, ‘You can’t go in there with, you know, a golf shirt and jeans,’” he said, referring to a lounge at the track.

“When I saw the ambassador, I said, ‘I apologize I’m dressed this way’ and I’ll never forget what you said. You said, ‘No, that’s great, I’m a jeans and T-shirt gal. And I thought, that’s my type of gal right there. Jeans and a T-shirt.”

The exchange came after Ford told the audience he’s on a mission to axe 25 per cent of the regulations governing business in Ontario, touted his frequently used “open for business” slogan and his fight against a federal carbon tax, gave out his cellphone number, and slammed Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

“It hurts both countries,” Ford said, noting 19 states count Ontario as their largest trading partner. “It hurts the U.S. more.”

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Leading the conversation, Craft mentioned another meeting on the same weekend, this time at the Honda Indy on Toronto’s waterfront, where she saw race car driver James Hinchcliffe, an Oakville native, and made a beeline to meet him — only to find Ford at the centre of the crowd.

“Once again, you were just so vivacious and open,” she said to Ford, before turning to the audience.

“He was already late to meet with us so I was kind of waiting on you to come into this area (where) we were going to be meeting, and here he was just holding court with, I don’t know, maybe 50 to 60 young adults, which was just really cool.”

“I just appreciate all the common folk out there and I give all the credit to my brother, Rob,” Ford replied.

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He also told the crowd of the time he purchased a cassette of “The Star-Spangled Banner”0 at Sam The Record Man and played it on his Walkman as a 12- or 13-year-old boy.

“Make no mistake, I’m a patriotic Canadian, but I love the U.S. and I love the people — the closest allies, best people in the world.”

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