President Donald Trump continued his war of words on Canada Tuesday, first insisting the United States is "giving serious consideration" to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America and then accusing Prime Minister Mark Carney of lying.
In a post on social media today, Trump says the U.S. does not expect to continue doing business with Ontario "much longer."
The president followed it up with another post that he would never interfere with Canadians speaking French and never tried to weaken language protections as part of trade talks, calling Carney weak and unpopular.
Carney's approval rating has been between 50 and 60 per cent over the summer, according to several different polls, while Trump's approval rating in the U.S. is around 33 per cent, the lowest it has been across both his terms as president.
An Angus Reid poll taken over the weekend found broad support for the Canadian government's decision to walk away from trade talks under the terms the U.S. offered. The online survey, which can't be given a margin of error, found 76 per cent of Canadian respondents, and 85 per cent of Quebecers, believed Canada walking away was the right choice.
Trump was back it again Tuesday.
"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," he wrote.
He then disputed Carney's assertion that the U.S. had gone after Canada's French language protections in the recent trade talks.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French!” Trump posted, dismissing accusations that his administration sought to infringe on French language and culture in trade negotiations.
Carney said Saturday that U.S. negotiators had tried to secure measures which would have reduced the discoverability of French content online.
”I have never thought of doing such a stupid thing,” Trump continued.
”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!”
Last spring the U.S. annual report on trade concerns with other countries identified Quebec's Bill 109 as an issue, which requires online streaming companies to make sure French content is available and promoted on their sites.
Trump's latest tirades come after trade talks were suspended on Friday as Canada accused the U.S. of making unacceptable, last-minute demands to a deal agreed upon days earlier.
The U.S. imposed new tariffs on Canada on Saturday and Carney's cabinet is set to announce Canada's retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2026.
