‘Long after President Trump is gone, it will still be called Lake Ontario’ — Premier Doug Ford fires back at ‘Lake America’ decree with giant sign

Ontario Premier Doug Ford answered President Donald Trump’s “Lake America” decree Saturday with a billboard-sized message on the Canadian shoreline: “Lake Ontario. Now and Always.”

Wearing a Team Canada soccer jersey, Ford unveiled the sign near Grimsby, Ontario, and posed for photographs. The 24-by-12-foot (7.3-by-3.6 meter) sign stands on 6-foot (1.8-meter) legs, putting its top about 18 feet (5.5 meters) above the ground — roughly two stories high. The message is repeated in French.

It was the latest show of defiance after Trump signed an executive order directing U.S. federal agencies to call Lake Ontario “Lake America.” After months of tariffs, threats to make Canada the 51st U.S. state and personal attacks on its leaders, the move has been met in Canada largely with ridicule.

Ford said Trump was trying to rename the lake because Ontario and Canada were “standing up for ourselves” and a...