Part of trade dispute following breakdown in talks over northern neighbor's demands
The president cited his tariff fight in a social media post, saying the United States doesn’t expect to be “doing much business with Ontario any longer.”
Trump floated the possibility of rebranding Lake Ontario, in a shot against Canada's most populous province -- whose premier threatened to cut off electricity and minerals to the US.
President Trump is taking out his frustrations on Canada by threatening to rename Lake Ontario.“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. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump posted early Tuesday morning on Truth Social.Trump was responding to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who responded to Trump’s tariff threat against cars and trucks produced in Canada Monday by saying that the U.S. president “can kiss my ass as far as I’m concerned.“We’re going to go at him full steam, and we buy 400 percent more cars than anyone in the world,” Ford said in a radio interview.Trump also denied reports that Canada pulled out of trade negotiations over the weekend over crazy last-minute demands from Trump administration officials such as changing Quebec’s French-language protections.“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” Trump posted less than 45 minutes after his threat to rename Lake Ontario.Trump’s feud with Canada could have far-reaching economic effects. Canadian officials will announce their own retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Tuesday. These could target any number of goods and services that Canada provides to its southern neighbor, including electricity, oil and gas, uranium, aluminum, and rare earth materials.The price of gas and other goods in the U.S. is already high thanks to the Iran war and Trump’s mismanagement of the economy. A trade war with Canada will only hurt the American economy further and punish consumers just in time for November’s midterm elections. This story has been updated.