Marvel star Simu Liu is pushing back on Donald Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario. The “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” star pushed back on the name change in the Lake America controversy, saying the lake will always be Lake Ontario.
Simu Liu says Lake Ontario will always be Lake Ontario amid the name-change controversy
Trump signed an executive order on August 27 officially renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America.” The decision came amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Canada after trade negotiations broke down. The new name has also appeared on Google Maps for users in the United States, while Canadian users continue to see “Lake Ontario.”
The controversy quickly spilled onto social media, where Liu’s response became a talking point. On September 1, the Marvel star posted on X, “it’s lake ontario and it always will be.” While some people agreed with the actor, others questioned whether the name change was worth the attention.
One commenter wrote, “? like who cares? More pressing matters you should be focused on, but let’s get pissed about this ?”
Another person pushed back against the traditional name, saying, “It had another name before that. Why did your country change it?”
The debate also drew a strong pro-Trump response. One commenter wrote, “Shut up! America controls almost half so we have a right to name it what we want!”
Others argued that the controversy was distracting from more important issues. “Why the fuck are we even saying this? We’re feeding into his bullshit,” one commenter wrote.
Another person brought Indigenous history into the discussion, saying, “It’s whatever the Seneca people called it, actually. And it always will be.”
Trump had announced the planned change a day before signing the order. In a TikTok video, he said, “We’re gonna make a little change, we’re gonna call it something different than Lake Ontario. We’re gonna call it Lake America.”
The president later connected the decision to his criticism of Canada over trade and defense, while also pointing to his earlier move to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
For Liu, however, the name appears to be much simpler: Lake Ontario remains Lake Ontario.
