"Lake America": Trump turns Canada feud toward Lake Ontario

Context

President Trump's war of words with Canada continued Tuesday amid a dispute over trade negotiations. The big picture: U.S. and Canadian officials have swapped barbs since negotiations collapsed last week, but Trump took the spat to a new level when he threatened to rename Lake Ontario to "Lake America" and claimed Canada had lied about a sticking point in trade talks. What they're saying: "The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don't expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer." Trump wrote on Truth Social. Lake Ontario stretches across the U.S.-Canada border, with approximately 47% of the lake belonging to the U.S. The president then posted that he would "never interfere with Canadians speaking French!" referencing comments Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made about U.S. threats to the French language. "In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing," Trump added. Carney's office did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment. Catch up quick: U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed Friday night, triggering 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods. Carney said he would match those levies dollar-for-dollar. And on Monday, Trump upped his threats, saying the U.S. will raise car and truck tariffs to 50%, though the duties won't take effect until 2027. The president had previously signaled a deal with Canada was coming, but both sides blamed the other for the talks crumbling. Zoom out: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also told CNBC that alleged threats to the French language were a "funny fake story." But he alluded to one pain point: Canadian mandates requiring streaming companies to promote and invest in Canadian content. What we're watching: Carney said Monday that "of course" Canada will come back to the negotiating table — if the U.S. has the "right attitude." Go deeper: Mark Carney's defiance of Trump has Canada cheering

What it means

Causal chain

No clear market signal

Not investment advice · for informational purposes only. Generated 1h ago