Vice President JD Vance said Canada treats Chinese goods more fairly than Maine products and warned Canada to "stop taking advantage of America," during an event Monday in Brewer, Maine.
President Donald Trump escalated his war of words with Canada on Tuesday morning, floating a U.S. push to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America" and accusing Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of lying about the Trump administration's position on French-language protections.
"The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to [sic] doing much business with Ontario any longer," Trump wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social.
Trump followed with another broadside aimed directly at Carney, rejecting claims the U.S. had sought concessions affecting the French language during the countries' recently collapsed trade negotiations.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump have had a contentious relationship as more rival than neighbors of late. (Evan Vucci/AP)
"I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French!" Trump wrote. "In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing."
"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," Trump added. "I love French Canadians!"
The posts marked the latest escalation in an increasingly bitter dispute between Washington and Ottawa after trade negotiations broke down late last week, triggering a new round of tariffs and threats of retaliation between the longtime allies.
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"We were not prepared to compromise on the protection of the French language and our culture," Carney said Saturday while announcing the suspension of negotiations, adding that those issues were "never on the table" for Canada.
Carney doubled down Monday while in Quebec, arguing that French-language protections viewed by the U.S. as trade irritants were fundamental rights in Canada. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, however, disputed Carney's characterization, calling the French-language dispute a "funny, fake story" and saying the U.S. objection instead centered on requirements affecting American streaming companies.
Ontario is Canada's most populous province and a key hub in the tightly integrated U.S.-Canadian auto industry. Lake Ontario is shared by Ontario and New York, making Trump's proposed name change another provocative shot at America's northern neighbor as the economic standoff deepens.
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The president has previously used geographic names to make a political point, ordering the change of Gulf of Mexico to be called Gulf of America.
