Lake America Defiance Takes Another Turn With New 'Lake Ontario' Signs Near U.S. Border

President Donald Trump issued an executive order on August 27 to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America." The president first threatened to change the name of the Great Lake on August 25. Roughly a day prior, Ontario's Premier Doug Ford got into a spat with the U.S. president over his promise to increase tariffs on Canada in 2027.

Soon after Trump announced the name change, Google Maps updated Lake Ontario to "Lake America" for U.S. users— international users see both names. Now, in another jab at President Trump, Ford has put new “Lake Ontario” signage near the U.S. border.

Ontario Premier Debuts “Lake Ontario” Signs Near U.S. Border Amid Trump Spat

Doug Ford, Ontario Premier, unveiled a sign that reads "Lake Ontario" along with "Now and Always" — the French translation of both the sentence and the lake's name appears below it. The sign is located in Hamilton, Ontario, just under an hour from the U.S. border and halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Ford called Trump a “bully” in an interview with CTV News after debuting the sign.

“We're strong Canadians, and we're always going to protect our sovereignty. Always. And we'll never ever back down from a bully,” Ford said.

The sign was unveiled just hours after Trump posted an AI video on Truth Social of a troop of armed Canadian geese, wearing the president’s signature hair, standing at the lake with “Lake America” written on it.

Ford has responded to Trump’s insistence over the name change, affirming that it will remain known as “Lake Ontario” abroad — and even by some U.S. lawmakers.

“President Trump can call it whatever he wants, but I can tell you that the rest of the world will always call it Lake Ontario. I received numerous calls from governors that are saying, you know, we're always going to call it Lake Ontario,” Ford said.

While not everyone is willing to go along with Trump’s change, Google is.

A subsidiary of the world’s third-most valuable company wrote in a statement, "Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see 'Lake America.'"

Google added that Canadians will still see the body of water as “Lake Ontario” on the map.

"Those in Canada will continue to see 'Lake Ontario,' and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names. These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now," Google wrote.

The change echoes Google’s response to Trump’s 2025 name change of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Amid this controversy, the trade war between the U.S. and Canada has been escalating.

U.S. And Canada’s Trade War Has Been Ramping Up

Trump promised a tariff hike on Canada at the start of 2027 in an August 24 post — doubling the current amount.

“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years. Their ridiculously high tariffs on our Farmers and farm products has made life impossible for these great American Patriots, and has long created a 60 Billion Dollar Deficit between our two Countries,” Trump shared on social media.

He explained that the tariffs would have a focus on vehicles.

"Not sustainable, and NOT ANYMORE! On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%. Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS. Canada will be treated like a State no longer!" Trump added.

Ford told ABC News' "This Week" that a trade war would be “devastating” for both countries.

"It'd be devastating on both countries, but it'd be definitely devastating on the U.S. We're the largest purchaser of vehicles in the entire world off the U.S. … and they're already seeing the effect," Ford said. "A tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on American people, and it's probably the worst move he could ever do."

Ford also said in the interview that Trump’s executive order to change Lake Ontario’s name “was like something out of ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will match Trump's 50% tariffs on Canadian goods "dollar for dollar." However, before this latest development in the trade war, Canadian travel to the U.S. has been affected, partly spurred by Trump’s comments calling Canada the “51st state.”

U.S.-Canada Relations Impact On Canadians’ Travel To The U.S.

According to data from Statistics Canada, Canadians made almost 500,000 fewer trips to their southern neighbor in the first three months of 2026 than in the same period in 2025.

According to Statistics Canada, here’s information on how many Canadians have been traveling to the U.S. and within Canada:

Canadians also spent roughly $800 million less on those trips year over year. Meanwhile, Canadian businesses have been seeing the upsides of more domestic travel, according to the National Travel Survey.

Spending on trips within Canada went from $13.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025 to $14.5 billion in the same period in 2026.

Air Canada slashed over 3,400 flights to the U.S. for the year ending June 2026 compared to the same period last year. Earlier this year, Canada's largest carrier by number of flights also announced new international destinations, including a nonstop route to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, while omitting U.S. routes.

While Trump’s new tariffs have yet to be imposed, they will likely negatively affect travel to the U.S.

TheTravel contacted the White House and Ford’s office but did not receive responses in time for publication.