Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford puts up a sign with the name Lake Ontario

Ottawa. “Lake Ontario - for now and forever”: In the dispute with US President Donald Trump over the correct name for a lake on the border between the two countries, the head of government of the Canadian province of Ontario is stepping up. In a nearly 40-second video published on the

In just a few sentences, Ford explains why this is the case. Long before Trump came into office, the lake was called Lake Ontario - and that's how it will be after he leaves the White House. “In case President Trump or anyone else forgets, we put up this sign to remind them that it is called Lake Ontario – now and forever.”

A few days ago, Trump renamed the border lake “Lake America” in the ongoing customs dispute with Canada. He linked the move to an economic aspect and explained that the US no longer expected to do significant business with Ontario. Canada's most populous province is economically closely linked to the USA.

Since the failure of trade negotiations between the governments in Washington and Ottawa a week ago, the dispute between the neighboring countries has worsened significantly. Lake Ontario is one of the so-called five Great Lakes, three of which border both the USA and Canada. The name of the lake goes back to the 17th century, when the USA and Canada had not yet been founded.

Ford had already vented his anger at Trump after the collapse of trade talks with the words “Kiss my ass.” He also called the US president a “dictator,” a “loser” and “king of bankruptcies.”

Previously, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would not recognize Trump's attempt to single-handedly rename Lake Ontario. The US President is annoyed with the government of the neighboring country because it does not give in to the tariff dispute with the United States. Trump has used renaming of this kind several times in his second term as a means of demonstrating power. He renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” and gave North America's highest mountain in Alaska the name Mount McKinley, which he has since given up.