Canada claps back at Trump's efforts to rename Lake Ontario as 'Lake America'

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, right, and Niagara West Member of Provincial Parliament Sam Oosterhoff unveil a sign for Lake Ontario at the Fifty Point Conservation Area in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Keito Newman/The Canadian Press via AP) Keito Newman/The Canadian Press/AP hide caption toggle caption Keito Newman/The Canadian Press/AP Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a giant billboard on the Canadian shoreline on Saturday, with the message "Lake Ontario — Now and Always," hitting back at President Trump's efforts to rename the lake "Lake America." The sign, written in both English and French, was put up near the U.S. border, along a major road many Americans travel on when visiting Canada. "President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario," Doug Ford told reporters. "We're resilient and we're strong Canadians who are always going to protect our sovereignty, always, and we'll never ever back down from a bully, ever." Ford echoed Canada's prime minister Mark Carney who last week said in a post on X, "Canadian women and men … know that things must be called by their name, and this lake i...