Canada installs a large “Lake Ontario” sign as Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejects Donald Trump’s attempt to rename the shared lake.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has hit back at US President Donald Trump by installing a large sign on Canada’s shoreline declaring: “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”
The move comes after Trump signs an executive order seeking to rename the lake “Lake America” and shares a series of AI-generated videos mocking Canada’s continued use of its original name.
“Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario,” Ford says.
The latest war of words follows the collapse of trade talks between the two countries, with the US imposing new 50% tariffs on $20 billion (C$28 billion) of Canadian goods. Canada says it will introduce “dollar for dollar” counter-tariffs next month.
Trump says his executive order takes effect immediately as he signs the decree to rename the lake Lake America.
While the US president has broad discretion over how the US government recognises geographic landmarks, other countries are not required to adopt the new name.
Google says it has changed the lake’s name on its maps for users in the US.
“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS [Geographic Names Information System] for the US, people using Maps in the US will see ‘Lake America’, those in Canada will continue to see ‘Lake Ontario’ and those outside of the US and Canada will see both names,” the technology company says in a blog post.
The approach mirrors Google’s treatment of the Gulf of Mexico, which is displayed as the Gulf of America for users in the US following Trump’s 2025 declaration.
Canadian officials reject Trump’s renaming effort.
Trump also posts several AI-generated videos on social media on Saturday. One shows him kicking over a Lake Ontario sign and replacing it with one reading: “Welcome to Lake America.”
Another depicts Canada geese with Trump’s trademark hairstyle and rifles patrolling the shoreline of the newly named Lake America.
Ford says Trump’s decision to rename the lake is because he “didn’t like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves”.
Standing in front of the newly installed sign, Ford adds: “Just in case President Trump or anyone else forgets, we’ve set up this sign to remind them, it’s Lake Ontario, now and forever.”
The statement echoes Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s previous response to the dispute, when he insists: “things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever”.
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes and borders the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York.
The names of four of the Great Lakes ; Ontario, Huron, Michigan and Erie originate from Indigenous words, while Lake Superior takes its name from an anglicised French term.
Trump’s executive order gives the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the name in the Geographic Names Information Service, the official repository of domestic geographic names in the US.
Mexico has similarly rejected Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, arguing that a single country cannot rename a shared body of international water.