Fact Check: Did Ontario Premier Doug Ford post a map renaming Lake Michigan 'Lake Epstein'?
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” has created a debate online.
Amid the ongoing trade tensions between the US and Canada, social media users shared an alleged post from Ontario Premier Doug Ford showing Lake Michigan renamed “Lake Epstein.” But did Ford really share the post?
Claim: Premier Doug Ford shared a post showing Lake Michigan renamed 'Lake Epstein'
A supposed post from Ontario Premier Doug Ford claimed, “The people of Canada will be giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Michigan.” The post included a map of the Great Lakes region with a proposed new name for the lake as “Lake Epstein.”
The supposed post spread across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X. Some users questioned whether Ford had deleted the post from his social media accounts. One Facebook user shared the screenshot on August 25, 2026, with the caption, “The Premier of Ontario, Canada said this!”
why did @fordnation delete this this is great lol, both spiritually and gametheoretically pic.twitter.com/ySO7yEDOF0
— nisten (@nisten) August 26, 2026
The post referred to Jeffrey Epstein, who is a wealthy investor who had connections with several high-profile people. Authorities found Epstein dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while he was awaiting trial on serious charges.
The supposed Ford post circulated after US-Canada trade talks broke down on August 21, 2026. Trump and the White House had also promoted the idea of renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
On August 27, Trump signed an executive order directing US government agencies to use “Lake America” in official references to the body of water, which lies along the US-Canada border.
Fact Check: The claim is false
The claim is false. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that the name “Ontario” comes from an Indigenous word that was used long before the United States and Canada were established.
After Trump’s announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford did post that Lake Ontario would keep its name “now and forever.” However, the supposed post referring to “Lake Epstein” does not appear on Ford’s official social media accounts.
The screenshots claim that Ford posted the image on August 25 at 10:49 am. However, Ford’s official X account shows posts at 10:34 a.m. and 11:28 am, with no post between those times matching the screenshot. The supposed screenshot also consistently showed 1,100 views, which further suggests that the image was fabricated.
Searches also found no credible news reports saying Ford shared the “Lake Epstein” image. Instead, several reports identified the joke as coming from Canadian radio personality Dean Blundell, who suggested the name in response to a White House post on August 25.
