Ontario premier calls Trump a ‘loser,’ then Trump comes up with ‘Lake America’ idea

WASHINGTON, DC: Amid the intensifying rift with Canada over the trade talks that fell through last week on Friday, August 21, President Donald Trump has proposed changing the name of Lake Ontario as America no longer expects to do business with Ontario.

The trade deal between the US and Canada failed to produce any concrete result after what Ottawa said were Washington’s last-minute demands, prompting the US to announce a 50 per cent tariff on several Canadian products.  

Canada responded with a pledge to impose equally damaging import taxes on America, saying “dollar for dollar.”

Trump wants to rename Lake Ontario

President Trump said Tuesday, August 25, his administration is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America, indicating that no business is going to take place with Ottawa amid the trade war with Canada.

The announcement comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded to Trump’s attack on social media, calling the president a “loser” and telling him, “Bring it on, buddy.”

Trump had attacked Ford, calling him a 'flunky' of Prime Minister Mark Carney and invoking his late brother Rob Ford.

“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 in a post on Truth Social.

It would not be the first time the president has sought to rename a body of water bordering the US and another country. Last year, Trump signed an executive ordering renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

The business negotiations between the two parties turned into a full-blown trade war over the weekend after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney removed negotiators from trade talks with the US, accusing the US of last minute demands, which experts described as “insanity” and “encroaching on Canada’s sovereignty.”

After the US announced tariffs, the Canadian prime minister affirmed that Ottawa would enact retaliatory tariffs in response to the US’s new 50 percent tariffs starting Sept 8.

Trump and Ontario Premier Ford attack each other

After Trump posted a lengthy message to the premier on his Truth Social platform, saying he was the “unimpressive brother” of former mayor Rob Ford.

“Lots of ‘bluster’ from Doug Ford, who is the Premier of the Canadian Province of Ontario, but who is better known as the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford,” Trump wrote on Monday.

“Governor Carney, and his Flunky, Ford … will not be allowed to keep taking advantage of the United States — Their key to survival. Remember, much of the Electricity, Oil, and Gas that Canada gets is transported through the U.S.A. Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!”

Ford hit back at the president repeatedly, suggesting he would campaign against the Republican president in the midterms if he could.

“I don’t respond to a dictator like President Trump, a bully like President Trump,” Ford told reporters. “I’m not going to take any advice off a guy that’s the king of bankruptcies.”

“Let’s be clear, I don’t like the guy — simple,” Ford told reporters.