U.S. President Donald Trump said he is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario amid the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada. Trump made the comment in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday morning. “The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.” It would not be the first time Trump renamed a body of water. The U.S. president previously renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, a change that is now reflected on Google Maps. The U.S. president’s latest threat comes less than 24 hours after he vowed to tack on more tariffs in the New Year, prompting Premier Doug Ford to hurl a series of insults at Trump during a news conference on Monday afternoon. In a post on Monday, Trump said he plans to increase tariffs to 50 per cent on all Canadian cars, trucks, automotive parts, and steel on New Year’s Day. Confronted with the news during a radio interview on Monday morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded, “He can kiss my ass as far as I’m concerned.” Trump proceeded to launch a personal attack against Ford, referring to him as “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.” In another post, Trump called the premier’s comments “lots of bluster” before noting that Canada “couldn’t survive” without the U.S. He then referred to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ford as “Governor Carney and his flunky, Ford.” “Someone should get these clowns to “fall in line” or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!” Trump wrote. Speaking at a news conference in Hamilton later in the day, Ford continued to lash out at Trump, calling him a “loser,” “a bully,” and the “king of bankruptcies.” “I have been in this game a lot longer than he has. I got skin on me like an alligator and you think an insult from him hurts me? Well bring it on buddy, I am ready. Bring it on,” Ford said. “We’re going to fight with everything we have and, you know something, I have more courage, more brains in my baby toe than he has in his whole body.” Talks between Canada and the U.S. on a new trade deal broke down over the weekend, with Carney blaming “last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms” that he said were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.” The U.S. introduced a new round of 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports on Saturday, targeting goods worth $28 billion. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada plans to introduce dollar for dollar retaliatory measures after Labour Day. At Monday’s news conference, Ford said Carney has his full support in walking away from a “bad deal” that would have “hurt Canadian workers and undermined Canadian sovereignty.” Canada is expected to announce retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. Tuesday, multiple sources previously told CTV News. With files from CP24’s Chris Fox, The Canadian Press, and CTV News
