Ontario premier answers Trump’s ‘Lake America’ with giant ‘Lake Ontario’ sign

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to President Donald Trump's proclamation declaring Lake Ontario as "Lake America" by unveiling a giant billboard on the Canadian shoreline that read "Lake Ontario. Now and Always." Ford, dressed in a Team Canada soccer jersey, stood beside the 24-by-12-foot sign near Grimsby, Ontario, posing for photographs.

The sign featured the message in both English and French, representing a show of defiance against Trump's executive order. Canada and Ontario have largely met the move with ridicule, with Ford arguing that the name "Lake Ontario" would outlast Trump. In a video posted on social media, Ford said, "Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario."

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew compared Trump to an aging rock band trying to revive a past hit, while Canadian historian Robert Bothwell argued that Trump's aim was to subordinate Canada and possibly make it a U.S. colony. The dispute over the lake's name comes as U.S.-Canada relations have worsened over trade and other issues, including an ongoing war of words between President Trump and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.