Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled a large shoreline sign declaring “Lake Ontario—now and always” after US President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to use the name “Lake America” for the lake. Ford unveiled the sign on Saturday at Fifty Point Conservation Area near Grimsby, Ontario, saying the lake would remain Lake Ontario long after Trump is gone.

The approximately 24-by-12-foot sign, nearly the height of a two-storey building, carries the message in both English and French. Canada has not accepted the proposed new name. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew mocked Trump’s initiative, comparing it to an aging rock band trying to replay an old hit.

The name Ontario is linked to Indigenous history, deriving from the Huron word “Onyatarío,” meaning “lake of shining waters.” Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected Trump’s decision, saying the name predates both Canada’s founding and the US Declaration of Independence. The dispute comes amid worsening US-Canada relations over trade and tariff policy, after recent trade talks failed and Canada announced retaliatory tariffs from next month.