Donald Trump was mocked at the Toronto International Film Festival over his desperate bid to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”
The 80-year-old president has been widely condemned for picking a trade war with Canada and routinely taunting America’s northern neighbor. At the premiere of Oscar winner Sian Heder’s Being Heumann, he found himself—and his actions—as the butt of everyone’s jokes.
“Tonight’s film, Being Heumann, was filmed here in Toronto. It’s about Judy Heumann’s revolutionary campaign for a more accessible world,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said ahead of the movie at the Roy Thomson Hall.
“It shows us that when people come together and stay tenacious, they can move mountains—even against the might of the U.S. government.”
“We have some experience with that. So, it’s worth repeating: I am so pleased to say our magnificent waterfront will always be Lake Ontario.”
Being Heumann follows the life and work of disability rights activist Judy Heumann, who spent decades fighting the government for equal rights and accessibility laws.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey also made it very clear that those in attendance were right next to Lake Ontario. He was met with applause.
TIFF programmer Anita Lee followed, saying the same thing.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, the White House said, “Canada has been a bad neighbor.”
It added: “President Trump promised voters that he would not allow our country to be taken advantage of anymore, which is why he is fighting so hard to protect American industries and workers.”
Trump has a track record of renaming water, last year changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Trump’s tariff program was met with return fire from Ottawa after the two sides failed to reach a trade agreement.
Canada has now swung back with tariffs of its own, with Canada’s Minister for AI and Digital Innovation, Evan Solomon, saying in late August that it “didn’t ask for this trade conflict, but we’re ready for it.”
He said Canada was open to a deal, but it wouldn’t have any interest in a bad one.
“We won’t now, we won’t ever,” he said. “We’re not going to bend, we’re not going to break, we’re going to build.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
