Canadian Premier of Ontario Doug Ford sat down with ABC News Sunday for an extensive interview regarding the ongoing trade war between Washington and Ottawa, during which he mocked what critics have called one of President Donald Trump’s most “petty” moves.
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Trump launched an all-out trade war against Canada earlier this month after trade negotiations between the two nations broke down amid a series of “last-minute” demands from the United States. Among those demands, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney claimed, was that Canada “change its French language” and that it grant the United States control over its “ability to make trade deals with other countries.”
Carney vowed to match Trump’s new 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods “dollar for dollar,” and in response, Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, a move that Doug found so bizarre that it echoed a plot from a sketch comedy show.
“It was like something out of ‘Saturday Night Live’ when he signed documents saying [to] change to Lake America,” Ford told ABC News, according to Politico. “No one’s going to call it Lake of America. It’s been Lake Ontario for hundreds of years. It’s going to continue being Lake Ontario.”
Ford went on to differentiate between Trump and the American people, whom he said he and his fellow Canadians “love,” making Trump’s attempt to change Lake Ontario’s name “so disappointing.”
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Earlier on Sunday, Ford also unveiled a new billboard-sized sign on the shore of Lake Ontario, one that reads: “Lake Ontario. Now and Always,” with the message duplicated in French.
“You may have heard that President Trump is trying to rename this lake all because he doesn’t like Ontario and Canada standing up for ourselves,” Ford said in a video shared on social media Saturday.
“But let’s be serious: Long before President Trump, this lake was called Lake Ontario, and long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario. But 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.”
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It’s Lake Ontario, now and always. pic.twitter.com/KNahtPAMeJ
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) August 29, 2026
