Trump Threatens to Rename Lake Ontario ‘Lake America’

U.S. President Donald Trump says the United States is giving “serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” after trade talks with Canada deteriorated into a heated social media dispute.

In a social media post, Trump said the U.S. does not expect to continue doing business with Ontario “much longer.” He later said he would never interfere with Canadians speaking French and denied trying to weaken French-language protections during trade negotiations.

Trump also called Prime Minister Mark Carney “weak and unpopular.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded by saying the United States needs to feel economic pain in response to Trump’s latest escalation in the trade war. Speaking on Toronto radio, Ford told Trump to “kiss my ass” and later repeated the remark at a news conference in Hamilton.

Trump then criticized Ford, saying he was less charismatic, intelligent and impressive than his late brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who died in 2016.