Canada installs large Lake Ontario sign in latest jab at US
Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a billboard on Canada's shoreline with the message: "Lake Ontario. Now and Always."
Canada has erected a prominent sign on its Lake Ontario shoreline, declaring "Lake Ontario. Now and Always," in a direct response to recent actions by US President Donald Trump.
President Trump had issued an executive order on Thursday aiming to rename the lake, which spans both countries, to "Lake America." He also shared several AI-generated videos related to the lake.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford stated, "Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario. Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario."
This verbal dispute follows the breakdown of trade negotiations, which led to the US imposing new 50% tariffs on C$28 billion ($20 billion) worth of Canadian goods. Canada plans to implement "dollar for dollar" counter-tariffs next month.
Trump asserted that his decree to rename the lake to Lake America was effective immediately upon signing the order. While he possesses broad authority over how the US recognizes landmarks, other nations are not obligated to comply, and Canadian officials have dismissed his action.
On Saturday, Trump posted multiple AI-generated videos on social media. One video depicted him kicking over a "Lake Ontario" sign and replacing it with a "Welcome to Lake America" sign. Another video showed Canada geese, styled with the US president's hair and carrying rifles, patrolling the shoreline of the newly designated Lake America.
Ford attributed Trump's attempt to rename the lake to his disapproval of "Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves." Standing before the newly installed Lake Ontario sign, Ford added, "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."
This sentiment echoes Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's earlier remarks on the controversy, who insisted that "things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario - today and forever."
Four of the Great Lakes—Ontario, Huron, Michigan, and Erie—derive their names from indigenous words. Lake Superior was named after an anglicized French term. Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes, borders both the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York.
Trump's executive order grants the US Department of the Interior 30 days to update the name change with the Geographic Names Information Service, which is the official repository for domestic geographic names in the US.
Upon entering the White House in 2025, Trump signed a similar order changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Mexico rejected this name change, arguing that a single country cannot unilaterally rename a shared international body of water. This previous action also resulted in a legal dispute between Mexico and Google, after the tech giant renamed the gulf in its maps application. In that instance, Google Maps users in the US see "Gulf of America," while those in Mexico see "Gulf of Mexico." Users in other countries see "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)."