President Donald Trump fired another salvo in the escalating trade war with Canada early Tuesday, revealing that his administration is seriously considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
Trump unveiled the potential name change in a morning post on his Truth Social account, tying the proposal directly to the deteriorating economic relationship between the United States and Ontario.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing [sic] much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
The president returned to Truth Social shortly afterward to reject Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s claim that Trump had been pursuing a trade agreement that would have weakened protections for the French language.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing,” Trump wrote.
Trump accused Carney of manufacturing the allegation in an effort to win back political support in Quebec.
“This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec,” Trump continued. “I love French Canadians!”
The president’s posts arrived just hours before Canada was expected to unveil retaliatory tariffs against the United States.
Tensions between Trump and Canadian leaders erupted Monday during a bitter exchange with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Ford told CTV that Trump “can kiss my a**” and threatened to cut off electricity to American manufacturing facilities.
Trump quickly fired back, dismissing Ford’s remarks as “bluster” and attacking the Ontario premier as less charismatic and intelligent than his late brother, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
“America has been carrying Canada for decades, but no longer!” Trump declared.
Trump also maintained that the United States would remain “far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada,” while arguing that Canada could not survive economically without its southern neighbor.
“It’s where they get all of their money,” Trump wrote, blaming what he described as Canada’s poor leadership under Carney and Ford for the worsening confrontation.
Trump referred to the Canadian prime minister as “Governor Carney” and called Ford his “Flunky,” saying the two leaders would no longer be permitted to take advantage of the United States.
The dispute reached a new level Monday when Trump increased tariffs on Canadian goods to 50 percent. Carney responded by promising that Canada would match the tariffs “dollar-for-dollar.”
Trade negotiations between the neighboring countries collapsed late Friday. Carney subsequently ordered Canadian negotiators to return to Ottawa after talks failed to prevent the tariffs.
Speaking with reporters Saturday, the prime minister characterized the economic measures as an attack against Canada.
“You’re at war when you get attacked,” Carney said. “We got attacked.”
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